Helen Prejean

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A prison worker took this picture of Lorna Fitzpatrick and Bobby Lee Hampton - Visitors are not allowed to photograph

Twenty-one-year-old Lorna Fitzpatrick of the letter was to your American penfriend since she was 11. There is nothing particularly unusual about That - except he's a convicted murderer awaiting his execution in Louisiana .

to bring in Casual references to a visit from a penpal in death row the talks to a standstill can. A time when You worked in a children's camp, Lorna discovered a shop selling the kind of American candy is a prison-bus-driver had in common with her. "Anybody want a Now and Later?", she had asked The Other staff. "I had You on the bus to death row. "

"You had the, WHAT, WHAT?" they answered, in surprise.

Lorna is familiar with your situation eyebrow-raising. But , she sits by her mother in the kitchen, with one foot, the arms moved on The Chair to her knees, she seems friendly and reasonable - not someone likely to shock friends with A Man in the death cell out of a sense of rebellion or The Desire .

"I'm not saying That it's not strange," says Lorna from Newcastle in the North East of England. "It's weird, But really Nice . "It was tedious, But to say if You sent penfriend a note to your friend: "You better take after her - I'm on death row, so I know the people. "

"He didn't want it. I thought it was really funny," she says. "My Friend found it so funny. "

Louisiana State Penitentiary is the largest high-security prison in the U.S.

The author of this note, Bobby Lee Hampton , grew up in Louisiana , In America 's Deep South, one of six children. His mother was pregnant when his father was shot and killed.

at the age of 12, Hampton was in trouble.

shoplifting came first, followed quickly by the battery. To riot then, in his 20s, serious bodily injury, armed robbery, incitement. He was 25, when he, in 1995, and two cousins robbed a liquor store in his hometown of Shreveport, in The State of North west. Hampton was convicted of first-degree murder of a member of staff called Russell Coleman and sentenced to death.

Mr Coleman's Sister to find out later on That The Family is not for You ,

Conflicting witness statements, and The Absence of a witness at the trial, It was rejected, But a problem That The State authorities had the effect of implementation of Hampton ' s execution on hold, as always: the required cocktail of lethal drugs proved to be almost impossible to get.

Increasingly reluctant to allow their products can be used to carry out the death penalty, the pharmaceutical companies have been under Hampton part of a collective call for action, The State 's method of execution is unconstitutional.

in the Meantime, he writes.

Lorna, who has a University degree, says the letter, Hampton "definitely a two-way street"

he writes Lorna is a Church event in the English Cathedral City of Durham.

their mother, Brid, has heard of The Family , a well-known opponent of the death penalty and author of Dead Man Walking. Your message: all people are capable of, the redemption.

"We are all better than the worst thing we have ever done," says Brid, a committed Catholic. "It is obvious That this is a very complex message to a child of 11 or 12. "

But she felt it was an important lesson That , if You believe, You should be ready to put into practice. So Brid signed, with The Charity lifeline, which arranges penfriends for people on death row, and began to write Hampton . Small notes added by Lorna gradually in letters of their own.

"back wrote When he shared The Letters with me - I don't know what I would have done if You hadn't done it," Brid says. "I probably would have asked to see You , But I have not. I'm not minimizing the fact That it is a serious thing, But I don't think it was dangerous. "

According to Lorna, the only thing That the people thought your mother was worried about was the fact That Lorna had romance in mind. The 21-year-old says she was "very quickly" of course You do.

Sister Helen Prejean served as spiritual Advisor to two death row inmates in Louisiana State Penitentiary

Lorna is busier now, since I just got a degree in Computer Science , But in the early years, they would write a letter, a week, a little nervous about upsetting Hampton with stories of freedom. Now they write about Everything and everyone - what is going on in your life, what are You happy or sad, their families, The Future .

Hampton is holding The Letters . "I read You , to remind me That someone cares about me," he says. "This strengthens my faith and hope; to know the thought That You take care of me, and That they are not instructive, to me. Your visits mean The World to me. "

He will also Phone the can such a thing as a common experience. "He calls me Missy Moo, and he'd be Like , 'Oh, Missy Moo is on The Phone '," she says. "All The Other guys in the line would be Like , 'Hey Missy Moo', screaming out of their cells. "

Hampton was now in prison for almost a quarter of a century In The Past ten years, Lorna has taught him about emojis and hashtags - "he didn't really get it" - and explains cultural innovations Like Netflix and Spotify.

"is He Like a time-warp of A Man ," she says.

Louisiana State Penitentiary adjacent to the Mississippi River on three sides with a forest on the fourth

Tucked away in a bend of the Mississippi River , the Louisiana State Penitentiary is the largest high-security prison in the United States. It houses More Than 6,000 prisoners and almost 2,000 employees and 28 square miles (73 square km), it is larger than Durham and Newcastle city centres along.

Known by the name of the old slave plantation, on which he sits - Angola - it is Like a city of its own. There is a farm, staff housing, a Post Office , a Church, a cemetery and a Golf course. For children, The Prison Director, parents on site, born, there was a school. The Prison even has its own museum and A Gift shop selling "Angola " Gated Community" cups and "the pen!" Pencils.

Lorna's first visit to The Prison in 2012, was her idea. Her family had planned a vacation to Philadelphia, and You proposed the 1,300-mile detour. The Prison authorities thought it was a "really Nice " You came all the way from England.

she is free about the "really Nice " staff, But was surprised to not cross seems to be your mind, your family You could penalty against the death.

Angola is home to More Than 6,000 prisoners

Brid remembers The Automatic entrance gates, which they catch by, short, between two chain link fences, such as a swings closed before The Other opens, an experience she describes as "serious " freaky".

they were pet scans, and x-rayed and checked by a sniffer dog, the 14-year-old Lorna was disappointed not allowed to. Then it was on a prison bus for the half hour drive to the Hampton 's block.

"We were the only white people on the bus - and only the people at the bus stop "death row," says Lorna. "Even among all these people, to visit the go of your family, who were in prison, we could feel the judgment. "

The First visit was non-contact "such as You see in the movies" - with a glass partition and phones on both sides. In a couple of weeks ago, on your third trip, Lorna's family will be allowed three contact visits, all together in the same room with the Hampton , eat, play cards, talk.

the Hug is allowed at the beginning and at the end.

Lorna was with Hampton for More Than a decade, You will also be interested in:

Neither Lorna nor her mother looked up the Hampton on The Internet . Even Lorna has read his file. But , she sighs, The First thing everyone asks is: "What has he done?"

"It is the complete opposite of The Point ," she says. "The reason why we write, to Bobby, because he is much More Than what he is in prison. Bobby did not deny That in the convenience store. Bobby had a gun, and he robbed someone. But I think actually, The Prison was a truly reformed experience.

"I didn't come old, Bobby, in My House . Old Bobby would not be My Friend .

"But the new, current, Bobby?

"Yes. "

prisons, united states, letters, louisiana, newcastle upon tyne, capital punishment

Source of news: bbc.com