"Death’s Chaplain" by Steve James
by Danny Fisher
I’ve previously blogged about an astonishing film I saw last year called At the Death House Door by filmmakers Steve James and Peter Gilbert (of Hoop Dreams fame). The documentary is about the life and work of Huntsville prison chaplain Carroll “Bud” Pickett. From 1982 to 1995, Rev. Pickett accompanied 95 prisoners to their executions at Texas’ “Death Capital.” (Texas executes more prisoners than any other state and all of those executions happen in Huntsville.) When he had serious doubts about the guilt of the final prisoner with whom he walked the last mile, he quit his job and became an anti-death penalty crusader.
As part of CINELAN’s Three-Minute Stories series, James has put together a three-minute short about Pickett using footage shot for the film. You can watch it for free at Hulu or below.
