The Death Penalty and the Victims Family

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The Death Penalty and the Victims Family

• Brandon Crunkilton
• Jim Rogowski

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Organizations for the needs of victims
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• Murder Victims Families for Reconciliation
  (MVFR)
• Founded in 1976, Murder Victims' Families for
  Reconciliation is a national organization of
  family members of both homicide and state
  killings who oppose the death penalty in all
  cases. Their primary mission is to abolish the
  death penalty. They support programs and policies
  that reduce the rate of homicide and promote
  crime prevention and alternatives to violence.
  They advocate for programs that address the needs
  of victims, helping them to rebuild their lives.
• Murder Victims Families for Human Rights (MVFHR)
• An international, non-governmental organization
  of family members of victims of criminal murder,
  terrorist killings, state executions,
  extrajudicial assassinations, and
  disappearances working to oppose the death
  penalty from a human rights perspective. 
• Justice for All
• A Texas-based not-for-profit group advocating for
  criminal justice reform with an emphasis on
  victim rights. Justice for All is a strong
  advocate of the death penalty.

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Victim Impact Statements

• What are they?
• Detailed accounts of the emotional, physical and
  financial effects the crime has had on the
  victim/family members
• Who can submit them?
• Crime victims
• Close relatives of deceased victims and guardians
  of victims
• Close friends (depending on jurisdiction)
• What are the benefits?
• Helps victims/family members feel they are
  participating in the justice systemgives them a
  feeling of being heard
• Allows judges to see the impact of crimes on
  victims families

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States that allow VISs (2003DPIC)
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How the VIS is used (Texas)
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Sample VIS (Mississippi)
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Impact Statement for Family Members or Friends of
a Loved one
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Mother of James Connor

• May it please the Court.  I  represent my son,
  James Patrick Connor, who is not here, and my
  husband, and  our daughters and our four
  grandchildren.  More than anything else, I do
  this to honor him, because had the roles been
  reversed, he would be standing here today.  I
  also owe this to the other victims of violent
  crime who either stand silently by, or who speak
  and are not heard.   I owe it to the public,  I
  owe it to Jeffrey St. Pierre, who may not yet
  understand the magnitude of the loss he inflicted
  on the night of August 23, 1998.

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Mother of Philip Ray Dover

• Court edited the VIS
• Defendants family was allowed to plead for his
  life, despite the fact they had not seen him for
  4 years
• Family members of the 4 slain victims were not
  allowed to address the jury with anything but
  their edited VISthey were not allowed to inform
  them that they desired the death penalty
• When he can commit crimes like that and not get
  the death penalty, it seems like they won, not
  us.

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Right to View Statutes

• Guaranteed right for family members
• Oklahoma, Washington
• Administrative hearings in order to determine who
  can attend
• California, Florida, Louisiana, Montana, North
  Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah,
  Virginia, Illinois (may view through closed
  circuit TV)

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Right to View Statutes (Ohio)

• ORC 2949.25 Attendance at execution of death
  sentence.
• (A) At the execution of a death sentence, only
  the following persons may be present
• (1) The warden of the state correctional
  institution in which the sentence is executed or
  a deputy warden, any other person selected by the
  director of rehabilitation and correction to
  ensure that the death sentence is executed, any
  persons necessary to execute the death sentence
  by lethal injection, and the number of correction
  officers that the warden thinks necessary
• (2) The sheriff of the county in which the
  prisoner was tried and convicted
• (3) The director of rehabilitation and
  correction, or the directors agent
• (4) Physicians of the state correctional
  institution in which the sentence is executed
• (5) The clergyperson in attendance upon the
  prisoner, and not more than three other persons,
  to be designated by the prisoner, who are not
  confined in any state institution
• (6) Not more than three persons to be designated
  by the immediate family of the victim
• (7) Representatives of the news media as
  authorized by the director of rehabilitation and
  correction.
• (B) The director shall authorize at least one
  representative of a newspaper, at least one
  representative of a television station, and at
  least one representative of a radio station to be
  present at the execution of the sentence under
  division (A)(7) of this section.
• Effective Date 11-21-2001

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Victims Families Views
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Pro-Death Penalty Family Members
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Pro-Death Penalty

• Opportunity for closure
• Final opportunity to represent their murdered
  family members in the criminal justice process
• Gives family members a sense of justice, although
  many family members express a desire for a more
  painful execution method

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Cary Ann Medlin

• 8 year old girl who was kidnapped, raped and
  murdered in Tennessee
• Just before being killed, she looked up at her
  murderer and said Jesus loves you
• Murderer (Robert Glen Coe) was sentenced to
  death, but after 21 years, his sentence was
  overturned by an anti-death penalty judge
• Carys mother had to go to Washington to appeal
  to a subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee

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Anti-Death Penalty Family Members
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Anti-Death Penalty

• No retaliatory death will compensate for the loss
  of a loved one
• Closure comes from forgiveness, not witnessing an
  execution
• A family needs compassion, not a grisly spectacle
• Victims often seek a meaning to their
  victimization, not revengeSome family members
  have found healing through reconciliation
• Sometimes the prosecution will ignore the
  victims family members wishes and seek the
  death penaltywill go as far as attempting to
  prevent the impact statement from being seen/heard

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Anti-Death Penalty

• Right to View Statutes
• Adds another element to the already arbitrary
  death penalty process by leaving attendance
  decisions ot the discretion of prison officials
• Additional problems arise if the prisoner killed
  more than one victim (limited viewing space)

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Anti-Death Penalty

• States risk an emotional confrontation between
  the family members of the victim and the family
  members of the prisoner if they both attend the
  execution

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Rickey Langley Case

• Murder of a six year old child
• Prosecutors seeking to bar the use of VIS, since
  the mother of the victim has expressed opposition
  to the death penalty
• Too often, family members who oppose the death
  penalty are silenced, marginalized and abandoned,
  even by the people who are theoretically charged
  with helping them

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Renny Cushing

• Head of MVFHR
• Three primary ways in which victims who oppose
  the death penalty face discrimination
• Denial of the right to speak and be heard
• Denial of the right to information
• Denial of the right to assistance and advocacy

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Maria Chavez

• With the support of MVFR, California became the
  second statewide campaign to hire someone whose
  only job is to reach out to murder victims
  family members and families of the executed