A new research paper by Wayne A. Logan of the William Mitchell College of Law exam­ines the con­sti­tu­tion­al, eth­i­cal and legal issues raised by vic­tim impact evi­dence. In his arti­cle, ​“Victims, Survivors and the Decisions to Seek and Impose Death,” Logan notes that the U.S. Supreme Court’s land­mark 1991 deci­sion in Payne v. Tennessee opened the door for sur­vivors of mur­der vic­tims to tes­ti­fy about the social, emo­tion­al, and eco­nom­ic loss­es result­ing from the mur­der of their loved one. Since this rul­ing, such tes­ti­mo­ny has been broad­ly used through­out the nation and can often be a major fac­tor con­sid­ered by jurors in cap­i­tal punishment trials. 

(William Mitchell Legal Studies Research Paper No. 12, in WOUNDS THAT DO NOT BIND: VICTIM-BASED PERSPECTIVES ON THE DEATH PENALTY, James R. Acker, David R. Karp, eds., Carolina Academic Press, 2005) Read the paper. See also Victims and Resources.

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