Victims

NEW VOICES: Former Alabama Prosecutor Questions Value of Capital Punishment

Posted: July 31, 2007
in

Billy Hill spent seven years as a district attorney in Shelby, Coosa, and Clay counties in Alabama, and has reconsidered his stance on capital punishment.  Mr. Hill says that he would welcome a moratorium on executions in Alabama while a study commission examines the state's death penalty to evaluate whether it is "a wise and humane use of our resources." Wrongful convictions, the arbitrary nature of capital punishment, poor representation, and the long-term suffering of victims' family members are among Hill's main concerns about current death penalty laws.

NEW VOICES: Victims Organizations Issue Joint Statement for National Victims' Rights Week

Posted: April 20, 2007
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Three organizations whose memberships include family members of murder victims recently issued a joint statement in conjunction with National Crime Victims' Rights Week, which takes place April 22 - 28, 2007. The statement, issued by the leaders of Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights, Murder Victims' Families for Reconciliation, and Journey of Hope, called for governmental policies that serve the true needs of family members. The groups called for an end to the death penalty, noting that alternatives to capital punishment "provide the certainty and punishment that many families need while keeping our communities safe."

Their statement read:

Victims and Law Enforcement Support Kentucky Death Penalty Review

Posted: March 16, 2007
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Legislation to establish a commission to examine Kentucky's death penalty and report its findings to the General Assembly has gained support from former law enforcement officials and victims' family members. The bill, proposed by Rep. Tom Burch, would require the task force to review whether capital punishment deters crime, is applied fairly, and is still acceptable to the public. It would mark the first time in four decades that the state has examined its death penalty laws.

Why two mothers back death penalty repeal

Posted: February 19, 2007
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by Vicki Schieber and Carolyn Leming
Feb. 16, 2007
The Gazette

We write as mothers who have been scarred by the death penalty.

Our stories are very different, but they are both stories of justice gone wrong. They are stories that convince us the capital punishment system in Maryland and across the country is broken beyond repair.

One of us, Carolyn, almost lost an innocent son — condemned to death for a crime he did not commit. It took 10 long years for the truth to come out and set him free.

The other, Vicki, lost a beautiful daughter — killed in a brutal rape and murder that ripped her away in the prime of her life. The possibility of a death sentence in the case threatened to keep the family in limbo for decades, reliving the crime again and again with every appeal.

BOOKS: In the Shadow of Death: Restorative Justice and Death Row Families

Posted: February 13, 2007
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In the Shadow of Death: Restorative Justice and Death Row Families is a new book by Professors Elizabeth Beck, Sarah Britto, and Arlene Andrews that examines the debilitating effects that a death sentence can have on the families of the offenders. With a forward by Steve Earle, the book provides an in-depth analysis of restorative justice, which focuses on crime as an act against an individual or the community, rather than the state.

In their examination of how capital punishment impacts the families of the accused, the authors use real stories to illustrate how the feelings of anguish and powerlessness are compounded by the prospect of their loved one's execution. The book contends that these individuals should have a more influential voice within society because they play an important role in the nation's death penalty debate.

Colorado House Committee Advances Bill to Abolish Capital Punishment

Posted: February 08, 2007
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The Colorado House Judiciary Committee recently voted to abolish the state's death penalty, replacing it with a sentence of life-without-parole, and use the money currently spent on capital punishment to help solve 1,200 cold-case homicides in the state. The 7-4 vote followed four hours of testimony from murder victims' family members, state law enforcement officials, and death penalty experts, including DPIC Executive Director Richard Dieter. The bill's sponsor, Rep.

Death Penalty Will Not Be Sought for Killing at Jewish Federation

Posted: December 21, 2006
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Following an announcement that prosecutors would not seek the death penalty for Naveed Haq, who is accused of killing one woman and wounding five others at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, two of Haq's victims said they supported the decision to seek a life sentence. "The death penalty most likely promulgates further violence and revenge," said Cheryl Stumbo, who was wounded in the attack.  King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng classified it as "one of the most serious crimes that has ever occurred in this city." Layla Bush, who was also wounded by Haq during the July shooting, noted that she believes life in prison will be a tougher punishment than execution, adding, "I think this guy is someone who could feel remorse in prison. Two wrongs don't make a right."

NEW RESOURCES: Victims' Group to Release Report on Families of the Executed

Posted: December 06, 2006
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Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights will release a new report on December 10 entitled “Creating More Victims: How Executions Hurt the Families Left Behind.” Families of the executed are victims, too, according to the new report, which draws upon the stories of three dozen family members of inmates executed in the United States and demonstrates that their experiences and traumatic symptoms resemble those of many others who have suffered a violent loss.

“I don’t think people understand what executions do to the families of the person being executed,” says Billie Jean Mayberry, one of the family members featured in the report. Mayberry’s brother, Robert Coe, was executed in Tennessee in 2000. “To us, our brother was murdered right in front of our eyes. It changed all of our lives.”

“Creating More Victims” includes recommendations for mental health professionals, educators, and child welfare advocates. MVFHR also plans to deliver the report to the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights and request that that office undertake further study of the impact of executions on surviving families.

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