Victims’ Families

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 DPI Offers 
 

DPI 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.