Richard Pompelio (pictured) established the New Jersey Crime Victims Law Center (VLC) in 1992 after his 17-year-old son Tony was murdered. VLC provides pro bono legal assistance to victims of violent crime. He recently wrote in the New Jersey Lawyer’s The Law & More column about the disservice that the death penalty represents to victims and their families:

In my 15 years as a victims rights lawyer, I have represented many murder victim families in death penalty cases, and the additional anguish caused by the justice process is overwhelming.When I first see a client, I silently pray the prosecutor will decide against pursuing the death penalty, but not because I am against that form of punishment. My prayers are for the victims and the hope they will be spared the pain, isolation and despair the death penalty process inevitably will bring.
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What victims need most from those working in the justice system is to have the right to fairness, compassion, respect and dignity recognized and respected. They do not need— nor do they want — the vengeance of death.
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Families are placed in this adversarial system where justice becomes equated with winning and losing. And in death penalty cases, victims don’t win.
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The death penalty in New Jersey is so broken it cannot be fixed. Opponents of capital punishment advocate life in prison without parole as an alternative. Bipartisan legislation has been introduced to enact this change (A-3569/S-1212). I fully support it as do most victims and victim advocates. Let prosecutors, defense lawyers and judges focus their energies and talents on issues other than the death penalty to improve the justice system. Convince some of the legal talent from the defense death penalty bar to argue for the civil rights of crime victims and their families. In calling for the abolition of capital punishment in favor of life in prison without parole, Ocean County Prosecutor Thomas Kelaher recently told acting Gov. Codey that a death penalty never used has become “a cruel hoax on the families of the victims and the citizens of this state.”
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Legislators must understand that supporting the demise of the capital punishment law does not mean they’re soft on crime. It’s time for lawyers, judges, legislators and now our new governor to collectively put their hearts and minds together to restructure the criminal justice system to achieve a more positive purpose.

(New Jersey Lawyer, Dec. 26, 2005). Read the entire article. See also New Voices and Victims.