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East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania’s department of sociology, social work & criminal justice is hosting its third annual Peter Roche de Coppens Spirituality Event on April 11 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Hoeffner Science and Technology Center, room 117. This year’s event is a lecture presentation titled Rejoining Life: How We Pieced Our Lives Together After DEATH ROW. A Story of love, healing and the human spirit.

Sonia “Sunny” Jacobs and Peter Pringle were both wrongfully tried, convicted and sentenced to death. Sunny spent five years on death row in Florida, followed by an additional 12 years among the general population prior to her full exoneration in 1992. Peter was sentenced in Dublin, Ireland where he spent 15 years in prison prior to his own conviction being quashed, resulting in his release. Sunny and Peter each devoted themselves to healing in peace and reconciliation upon their respective releases. The two met while advocating against capital punishment through Amnesty International, have been living together in Ireland since 2001, and are now married. Sunny’s memoir, “Stolen Time,” was published in 2007, and Peter’s book “About Time,” in 2012.

Together they have established the Sunny Center, a sanctuary for others who have suffered injustice, particularly those who were wrongfully convicted of crimes and received death sentences.

Sunny and Peter are inspirational messengers against the death penalty, reminding audiences of the power of the human spirit to triumph over adversity, suffering and injustice.

This is the third annual sociology and spiritually event, sponsored by the Peter Roche de Coppens Spirituality Fund. The lecture series was established in 2010 in honor of the late Dr. Roche de Coppens, ESU professor emeritus of sociology.

For more information, contact Dr. Carrie Maloney at 570-422-3448 or cmaloney5@esu.edu, Dr. Hooshang Pazaki at 570-422-3281 or shpazaki@esu.edu, or Dr. Ray Muller at 570-422- 3014 or rmuller@esu.edu.