A new book by Professor Robert Bohm of the University of Central Florida exam­ines the per­son­al impact of cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment on those involved in the crim­i­nal jus­tice sys­tem, beyond the vic­tim and per­pe­tra­tor of the crime. Bohm lis­tened to those involved in all steps of the judi­cial process, includ­ing inves­ti­ga­tors, jurors, and the exe­cu­tion team. He has probed the effects of the death penal­ty on the fam­i­lies of both the mur­der vic­tim and the offend­er. The book, Capital Punishment’s Collateral Damage, includes tes­ti­mo­ni­als from mem­bers of each group, ​“allow­ing the participants…to describe in their own words their role in the process and, espe­cial­ly, its effects on them.” Bohm con­cludes that this ​“col­lat­er­al dam­age is anoth­er good argu­ment for rethink­ing the wis­dom of the ultimate sanction.”

(R. Bohm, ​“Capital Punishment’s Collateral Damage,” Carolina Academic Press (2013), post­ed January 22, 2013. This is an updat­ed ver­sion of Ultimate Sanction: Understanding the Death Penalty Through Its Many Voices and Many Sides (2010), also by Bohm.) See Books on the death penal­ty and Victims.

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