Overview
Tragically, every capital murder case involves at least one deceased victim. Vindication for victims and closure for victims’ families are often held out as primary reasons for supporting the death penalty. However, many people in this circumstance believe that another killing would not bring closure and that the death penalty is a disservice to victims.
The families and associates of the victims (sometimes called “covictims”) can play a key role in how a case proceeds in the courts. The prosecution may consult with the families on whether to seek the death penalty or to accept a plea to a lesser sentence. If death is pursued, family members may be asked to testify at the sentencing phase to describe the impact the murder has had on their own lives. Victims’ families often speak at legislative hearings on the death penalty, both in favor of and in opposition to a death penalty statute.
Statistically, the race of the victim can be relevant to the issues of arbitrary application and racial discrimination in the death penalty. Studies have shown that death cases disproportionately involve white victims in the underlying murder.
The Issue
Victims’ family members who oppose the death penalty are sometimes ignored if the prosecution is intent on seeking the most extreme punishment. In addition, victim impact statements at sentencing proceedings can be so dramatic and powerful as to overwhelm any mitigating factors presented about the defendant’s life history.
What DPIC Offers
DPIC keeps track of the race and gender of all victims in cases where there has been an execution. The voices of victims’ families are highlighted as offering an important and unique perspective on the death penalty.
News & Developments
News
Aug 16, 2024
Articles of Interest: U.S. Senator, Former U.S. Solicitor General and Victim’s Family Member Express Support for 9/11 Plea Deals
Theodore B. Olson, former U.S. Solicitor General from 2001 to 2004, who lost his wife in the September 11th terror attacks, says he felt relief upon hearing the announcement that three of the defendants entered into an agreement to plead guilty in exchange for removal of the death penalty as a sentencing option. However, Mr. Olson writes that his relief was short-lived when within 48 hours of the announcement Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin revoked the plea agreement. Mr. Olson believes this…
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Aug 12, 2024
New York Times Video Op-eds Highlight Systemic Flaws in the Capital Punishment System, Including Mistakes from Junk Science and Lack of Closure for Victims’ Families
In the second and third videos of The New York Times’ three-part series, “The Fallibility of Justice,” Brett Malone, whose mother’s killer remains on Louisiana death row, and Texas death-sentenced prisoner Charles Don Flores provide their perspectives on capital punishment. The New York Times has consistently called for abolition of the death penalty, describing it as “full of bias and error, morally abhorrent, [and] futile in deterring crime.”…
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News
Jan 16, 2024
U.S. Department of Justice Authorizes First Federal Death Penalty Case for Payton Gendron, Teen Who Killed Ten Black People in 2022
On January 12, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it will seek a death sentence for Payton Gendron, the then-18-year-old who killed 10 Black people at a Tops supermarket in Buffalo, New York in 2022. This is the first capital case authorized by Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Biden Administration’s DOJ. The announcement came twenty months after the mass shooting and eleven months after Mr. Gendron pled guilty to state first degree murder charges and was…
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News
Nov 17, 2023
Victims’ Families, Retired Judge, and Former Correctional Director Publicly Express Support for Ohio Abolition Bill
Victims’ families, retired Judge James Brogan, and former Department of Rehabilitation and Correction Director Gary Mohr have publicly expressed support for legislation pending in both the state Senate and House that would abolish the death penalty in…
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News
Oct 17, 2023
Victim’s Sister, Faith Leaders, and Others Plead for Clemency for Will Speer, Faith Based Coordinator on Texas’ Death Row
On Friday, October 13, the sole surviving family member of murder victim Gary L. Dickerson joined dozens of faith leaders and others in asking the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles for clemency for Will Speer. Mr. Speer is set to be executed on October 26, 2023. After a childhood of horrific abuse, a life sentence by age 18, and a judgment of death by age 23, Mr. Speer devoted himself to the study of Christianity and has become a prominent prison minister. “In my heart, I feel that he is not…
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