tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57875616766296177152024-02-20T19:17:40.163-05:00For Victims, Against the Death PenaltyThe web log of Murder Victims' Families for Human RightsSusannah Shefferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01632054044484377220noreply@blogger.comBlogger680125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5787561676629617715.post-60489770281594170902013-06-10T17:45:00.001-04:002013-06-10T17:45:27.434-04:00Lightening the LoadIn our <a href="http://www.mvfhr.org/sites/default/files/nlspring2013_0.pdf" target="_blank">Spring/Summer newsletter</a>, we wrote about MVFHR's participation in a workshop, sponsored by the Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO), on children of parents sentenced to death or executed. Now as an outgrowth of that workshop QUNO has published a report titled "Lightening the Load of the Parental Death Sentence on Children." You'll see references to MVFHR's work in that report, as well as, of course, a great deal of important analysis and recommendation.<br />
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You can download the report at QUNO's <a href="http://www.quno.org/" target="_blank">website</a>. Just scroll down to "Recent QUNO Resources."<br />
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QUNO will be releasing this report in Madrid this week at the<a href="http://congres.abolition.fr/?lang=en" target="_blank"> 5th World Congress Against the Death Penalty</a>, a tremendous gathering of people from all over the world. Some of us from MVFHR will be there and we look forward to seeing our colleagues who will also be participating and also to meeting many new allies and friends.Susannah Shefferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01632054044484377220noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5787561676629617715.post-66427745972009337652013-05-12T17:41:00.001-04:002013-05-12T17:41:55.488-04:00Walk for Peace<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">MVFHR was represented today at the annual </span><a href="http://mothersdaywalk4peace.org/" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mother's Day Walk for Peace </span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">that the </span><a href="http://www.ldbpeaceinstitute.org/about.html" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Louis D. Brown Peace Institute</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> has organized for 17 years. The LDB Peace Institute provides crucial support to families of homicide victims in the greater Boston area. Take a look at founder </span><a href="http://www.mvfhr.org/sites/default/files/pdf/gallery%20-%20chery.pdf" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tina Chery</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">'s page in MVFHR's Gallery of Victims' Stories. </span>Susannah Shefferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01632054044484377220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5787561676629617715.post-14718206261049784932013-05-01T08:56:00.000-04:002013-05-01T08:57:58.560-04:00Honoring Susan Herman<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Susan Herman, author of the book Parallel Justice for Victims of Crime and long-time friend of MVFHR, was just honored with the National Crime Victims Service Award from the Department of Justice. </span><a href="http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/newsroom/pressreleases/2013/ojppr042313_herman.pdf" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> is the department's press release, and </span><a href="https://ovcncvrw.ncjrs.gov/Awards/AwardGallery/gallerysearch.html" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">here </span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">is the short video that was used at the awards ceremony to introduce Susan's work.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We interviewed Susan Herman for MVFHR's newsletter in 2009, and that interview is still available </span><a href="http://www.mvfhr.org/sites/default/files/pdf/MVFHR9-09.pdf" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">here</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, on page 4. Susan gets right to the heart of things with this question (from that interview), "W</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #1a1a18;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">hile victims absolutely deserve a good and respectful experience within the criminal justice system, I think we need to go beyond that to ask, 'What do victims need, how can we as a society acknowledge that what happened to them was wrong, and how can we help them?'"</span></span>Susannah Shefferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01632054044484377220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5787561676629617715.post-27618481824227025122013-04-19T11:09:00.005-04:002013-04-19T11:09:53.275-04:00Spring newsletter is out!We've just posted our Spring/Summer <a href="http://www.mvfhr.org/sites/default/files/nlspring2013_0.pdf">newsletter</a>, with features on the United Nations Human Rights Council's consideration of children of parents sentenced to death or executed, an interview with Marilyn Armour about her recent research on victims and the ultimate penal sanction, Vicki Schieber's reflections on working for repeal in Maryland, and another powerful story about the impact of murder and mental illness within a family.Susannah Shefferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01632054044484377220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5787561676629617715.post-82097461109502458832013-02-26T10:23:00.000-05:002013-02-26T10:23:09.380-05:00The impact on victims' families<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some of us from MVFHR were in Milwaukee this past weekend, at Marquette University Law School's </span><a href="http://law.marquette.edu/facultyblog/2013/02/25/restorative-justice-conference-grief-is-inevitable-misery-is-optional/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">conference</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> on “The Death Penalty Versus Life Without Parole: Comparing the Healing Impact on Victims’ Families and the Community." </span><a href="http://law-media.marquette.edu/Mediasite/Play/ac725be4995b43a19b4bfebda8eb41261d"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, you can view Dr. Marilyn Armour's keynote address about her recent study about the impact of the penal sanctions life without parole and the death penalty on family members of murder victims, and </span><a href="http://law-media.marquette.edu/Mediasite/Play/26d4d827681c48898ef227645b2395cf1d"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">here</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> you can view the other conference panels. The panels with victims' family members are at the beginning.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Watch for our interview with Dr. Marilyn Armour in the spring issue of MVFHR's newsletter.</span>Susannah Shefferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01632054044484377220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5787561676629617715.post-3544981625039164702013-02-19T09:38:00.003-05:002013-02-19T09:38:48.681-05:00Hopeful and scaredMore from Maryland! Last week's Washington Post headline was "<a href="http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-02-13/local/37077698_1_vicki-schieber-death-penalty-astle">Murder victim's mother continues push for repeal of Maryland's death penalty</a>":<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">Schieber has made a similar pitch dozens of times over the past decade in Annapolis, as part of a cadre of activists pushing unsuccessfully for repeal of the state’s death penalty. On Thursday, she will be back once more, offering testimony to a pair of legislative panels.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">... </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">“I’m both hopeful and scared,” Schieber said in an interview this week when asked about what could happen in the coming weeks, as lawmakers start voting on the legislation.</span><br />
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Schieber has been effective over the years because she is not what lawmakers might expect from the family member of a murder victim, said Sen. Brian E. Frosh (D-Montgomery), who chairs the Senate committee that has jurisdiction over the legislation.</div>
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“When people meet Vicki, they meet a woman where the worst possible thing happened — she lost a child,” said Jane Henderson, the executive director of Maryland Citizens Against State Executions. “While Vicki would never say she speaks for all victims’ families, she makes a compelling case that goes to the heart of the matter.”</div>
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<a href="http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-02-13/local/37077698_1_vicki-schieber-death-penalty-astle">Read the full article</a>.</div>
</span>Susannah Shefferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01632054044484377220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5787561676629617715.post-45748167437578447832013-02-05T15:25:00.005-05:002013-02-05T15:25:55.221-05:00Fighting for Their Lives<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From MVFHR Project Director and Staff Writer Susannah Sheffer:</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm delighted to announce the publication of my book </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fighting for Their Lives: Inside the Experience of Capital Defense Attorneys. </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The book is about the emotional experience of lawyers who work at the end stage of capital defense and have lost clients to execution. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Law Professor Susan Bandes gives a glimpse of the book with this description: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #010101;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #010101;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is a book I could have wished into existence. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #010101;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It offers a rare look at the emotionally rich questions surrounding capital defense lawyering, and its conversational format opens up a vein of insight that even memoir would not. Fascinating and entirely engaging!" </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #010101;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Publishers Weekly says, "</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #993300; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">S</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #020000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">heffer takes readers beyond the courtroom and execution chambers to explore how capital defense attorneys cope when they can’t save a client. ... </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #020000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The book is unexpectedly moving</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #020000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, as when an inmate consoles an attorney who has run out of options, and the author is especially adept at uncovering the ethical and professional nuances of these cases. ... sobering and intimate ..."</span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #993300; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #020000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #993300; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #020000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The book is about law and the death penalty, but it's also about hope, failure, dignity, and all sorts of other matters that we might call psychological or just human questions. </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #993300; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #020000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #993300; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #020000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm grateful to all who might take an interest in the book and help to spread the word about it. If you're moved to order a copy, you can do that through your local bookstore or through any of the usual channels. <a href="http://www.susannahsheffer.com/fighting-for-their-lives.html">More information is here</a>.</span></span></span></div>
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Susannah Shefferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01632054044484377220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5787561676629617715.post-52426350820643651842013-01-29T08:33:00.003-05:002013-01-29T08:33:54.675-05:00Speaking Out in MarylandThe Eldersburg Patch has<a href="http://eldersburg.patch.com/articles/watch-death-penalty-protest-in-annapolis#c"> this news video</a> of supporters of repeal speaking in front of the Maryland State Capitol in Annapolis. MVFHR member Vicki Schieber talks about the murder of her daughter Shannon and why she opposes the death penalty.Susannah Shefferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01632054044484377220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5787561676629617715.post-79929513749647747062012-12-11T09:20:00.000-05:002012-12-11T09:20:05.782-05:00Relatives oppose itIt's helpful when news headlines recognize that not all victims' family members support the death penalty -- like this recent headline on the mynorthwest.com news site, "<a href="http://mynorthwest.com/11/2141553/Relatives-of-murder-victims-oppose-death-penalty">Relatives of murder victims oppose death penalty</a>":<br />
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<i>Relatives of murder victims in Washington hope their voices carry some extra weight in the debate over the death penalty.</i><br />
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<i>Retiring State Senator Debbie Regala, D-Tacoma, was among a group of
death penalty critics speaking out in Olympia Thursday. The six-term
state lawmaker has a personal story to share. </i><br />
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"In 1980, my brother-in-law was murdered and his body was dumped in a
park in Seattle," Regala told KIRO Radio. His killer was never
prosecuted.
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<i>Still, she favors abolishing the death penalty. "We spend six
to ten times as much money pursuing a death penalty as we would if we
went for life without the possibility of parole," claimed Regala. </i><br />
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"When we look at the high cost, the staggering amount of money that
gets spent on this, that money could be so much better used in giving
police officers better tools to prevent crime, tools for helping solve
some of these cold cases."
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<i>Other relatives of murder victims share Regala's viewpoint,
including Karil Klingbill, the sister of Candy Hemmig, a bank teller
murdered by Mitchell Rupe in Olympia in 1981.
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<i>Those who support the death penalty often cite closure for
victims as an argument for keeping the law. But death penalty appeals
can last for 10 years or longer. </i><br />
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"That prolonged process means that there is no closure for a long
period of time and for many people, it re-opens the wound over and over
and over again," Regala countered.
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Washington is among 33 states, as well as the military and the federal government, that allow the death penalty.
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<i>Legislative opponents plan to re-introduce a measure in Olympia
next session to abolish the death penalty and they are planning a rally
on the steps of the Capitol building in January.
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<i>KIRO Radio host Dave Ross said he appreciates hearing from
people like Regala. It's a different perspective that isn't always
considered. It stops him from wanting to totally abolish the death
penalty. </i><br />
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Dave says he knows it's hard for family members to relive the horror
every time there's an appeal, but he suggests setting limits and not
dragging out the process might be a solution.
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<i>One benefit of the death penalty is it gives prosecutors a
bargaining chip. They cut a deal with the Green River Killer, Gary
Ridgway, to avoid trial and he plead guilty. He would have been up for
the death penalty, but those trials never happened and the victims got
closure. He's not on death row, but in prison in Walla Walla for the
rest of his life.
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However, Regala doesn't believe it's appropriate to use it as a bargaining tool.
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<i>"We have people like Gary Ridgway who committed multiple
multiple murders and they have life without the possibility of parole.
And someone who committed one murder is on death row and may be
executed." </i><br />
Susannah Shefferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01632054044484377220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5787561676629617715.post-5170920136043309042012-12-10T08:09:00.000-05:002012-12-10T08:09:15.355-05:0064 years later, 8 years later<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Today is</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> International Human Rights Day </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">marking the anniversary of the signing of the</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/" style="color: #881100;">Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UNDR)</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">in 1948.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">In her book <i>The</i> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><em>Death of Innocents, </em>Sister Helen Prejean <em>writes </em></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">that initially there was some debate about whether abolition of the death penalty fell within the scope of the ideal that the Universal Declaration represented:</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><em>It was to be expected when Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was debated back in the 1940s that such a declaration, which granted everyone the right to life without qualification, would provoke debate, and one of the first proposed amendments was that an exception ought to be made in the case of criminals lawfully sentenced to death. Eleanor Roosevelt urged the committee to resist this amendment, arguing that their task was to draw up a truly universal charter of human rights toward which societies could strive. She foresaw a day when no government could kill its citizens for any reason.</em></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">We are, of course, still working toward that day, and although there is a great deal left to do, we can also appreciate that 64 years after Eleanor Roosevelt made her argument, the majority of the world's countries have abolished the death penalty.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Today is also the 8th anniversary of the founding of Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights. Eight years ago, the founding group gathered at the UN Church Plaza in New York City, offered public testimony, and signed a document stating, "In the name of victims, we pledge to end the death penalty around the world."</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlEV1yiwuZsiQQx0io3F0hqZj8asPUn7v3RJg6pn9qz19fNQY98zUZpBWHRimUHCpMlS6L0hdb2nW2hNKCDLta4STOs5zKzlGDAoHCssVaFpZhPfhX9hMw2mdRVrLJzrP8sTw9k27RUVY/s1600/founderspledge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlEV1yiwuZsiQQx0io3F0hqZj8asPUn7v3RJg6pn9qz19fNQY98zUZpBWHRimUHCpMlS6L0hdb2nW2hNKCDLta4STOs5zKzlGDAoHCssVaFpZhPfhX9hMw2mdRVrLJzrP8sTw9k27RUVY/s320/founderspledge.jpg" width="240" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">In MVFHR's first public statement shortly thereafter, we said:</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><em>The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a document that sets forth the most basic principles regarding the value of human life and the way human beings ought to treat one another, was inspired by victims, demanded by victims. It grew out of the suffering of millions of civilians murdered under the brutal regimes of the Second World War, and its adoption on December 10, 1948 was a way to honor the loss of these lives, and an attempt to give meaning to the loss, by asserting that such violations are neither moral nor permissible under any nation or regime.<br /><br />Now is the time to raise our voices again and insist that violations of human life in the form of the death penalty or other state killings are not permissible under any nation or regime. It is time to call for the abolition of the death penalty because the only way to uphold human rights is to uphold them in all cases, universally.<br /><br />We believe that survivors of homicide victims have a recognized stake in the debate over how societies respond to murder and have the moral authority to call for a consistent human rights ethic as part of that response. Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights is the answer to that call.</em></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Our deepest thanks today to all MVFHR's members and supporters who have helped answer that call and who have accomplished so much in these past eight years.</span>Susannah Shefferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01632054044484377220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5787561676629617715.post-49084843510037036462012-11-30T08:46:00.001-05:002012-11-30T08:46:55.595-05:00Cities for LifeMVFHR members are participating in "<a href="http://nodeathpenalty.santegidio.org/en/cities-for-life.aspx">Cities for Life - Cities Against the Death Penalty</a>" today, the international event organized each year by the Community of Sant'Egidio. Take a look at the link to see what's happening around the world, or check out this short <a href="http://www.worldcoalition.org/cities-for-life-against-death-penalty-sant-egidio.html">video</a>.Susannah Shefferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01632054044484377220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5787561676629617715.post-84484596242754875842012-10-29T10:11:00.003-04:002012-10-29T10:11:55.926-04:00In Tokyo<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kate Lowenstein is representing MVFHR in Tokyo today at "</span><a href="http://www.santegidio.org/pageID/3/langID/en/itemID/5839/Symposium_No_Justice_Without_Life_The_Death_Penalty_in_a_Globalized_World.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No Justice Without Life: The Death Penalty in a Globalized World</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">," a symposium organized by the Italian Community of Sant'Egidio. Here's a description:</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d3d3d; font-size: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The special aim of the Tokyo Symposium: how Japan may be closer to the rest of the World? The broad consensus on the issue found in Tokyo today shows that it is possible to begin to build bridges between the Japanese islands and the world. The same Justice Minister Makoto Taki, renamed by Prime Minister Noda, said three days ago in a Press Conference that Japan, on capital punishment, must come out of its isolation and begin to open to an international dimension.</i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d3d3d; font-size: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br style="outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial;" /></i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d3d3d; font-size: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br style="outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial;" /></i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d3d3d; font-size: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The Conference, realized with the support of the European Commission and hosting the significant contribution of the Vice President of the European Parliament as well as the Ambassador of the European Union to Japan, brings together many of the major Japanese organizations, as Amnesty International, Bar Association, Forum 90, Center for Prisoners’ Rights, ADPAN, Japan Interreligious Network Against the Death Penalty, and others.</i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d3d3d; font-size: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br style="outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial;" /></i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d3d3d; font-size: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br style="outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial;" /></i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d3d3d; font-size: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Including a truly broad range of witnesses and guests from Europe and the United States, Japanese representatives of institutions, of the world of politics, culture, the press, the arts, voices of the great world religious traditions – including the voice of Pope Benedict XVI – but also representatives of the new generations. In this context, the great composer and conductor Ken Ito will offer over his words also his music.</i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d3d3d; font-size: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br style="outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial;" /></i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d3d3d; font-size: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br style="outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial;" /></i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d3d3d; font-size: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Today in Tokyo we will listen to a marvellous polyphonic choir, which will sing a hymn towards the future : No Justice Without Life!</i></span></span>Susannah Shefferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01632054044484377220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5787561676629617715.post-38143273645622088462012-10-26T14:29:00.001-04:002012-10-26T14:29:38.902-04:00Both sides grieve<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">MVFHR member Lois Robison, whose son Larry was executed in Texas and who has been active in our </span><a href="http://www.mvfhr.org/prevention-not-execution-project"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Prevention, Not Execution project,</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> is quoted extensively in yesterday's story, "Wisconsin Spa Shooting Brings Back Painful Memories for the Moms of Mass Killers." MVFHR Executive Director Renny Cushing is quoted too:</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;"><i>News of Sunday’s shooting at a</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;"><i> </i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;"><i>spa in Wisconsin</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;"><i> </i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;"><i>brought back painful memories for Lois Robison, more than 1,000 miles away in Burleson, Texas.</i></span><br />
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<i>Robison’s son, Larry, was executed in 2000 for the brutal murders of five people near Ft. Worth, Texas, in 1982. Every time it happens again, every time a gunman takes to a mall or a Sikh temple or a school playground, bent on rampage, Robison remembers her own son.</i></div>
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<i>This past week, it was the shooting at the Azana Spa in Brookfield, Wis., that triggered those flashbacks. There, Radcliffe Haughton Jr. reportedly shot seven women, three of them fatally, including his wife, before turning the gun on himself.</i></div>
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<i>It didn’t take television crews long to reach the man’s distraught father, Radcliffe Haughton Sr., the following day. “All I can say is, I want to apologize to the people of Milwaukee who have been hurt,” Haughton Sr. told a reporter on Monday<a href="https://webmail.iac.com/owa/redir.aspx?C=7QCAPi2biE-vy2C_OKnl5-Md3TrFhc8I1xj8ktpqYrjB7g3fAJcd_hSdTSL8SYIW4mMK8TBZZUw.&URL=http%3a%2f%2fabcnews.go.com%2fUS%2fwisconsin-spa-shooting-suspect-radcliffe-haughton-wanted-leave%2fstory%3fid%3d17531973%23.UIbeoxgeVfQ" style="color: black; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: underline;"></a>. “He did not give me any hint of what he would do.”</i></div>
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<i><a href="" name="body_text4" style="color: black; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; visibility: hidden;"></a></i><div class="text parbase section" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
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<i style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>He did not give me any hint of what he would do.</i></i></div>
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<i style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>Haughton Sr. appeared to be answering an implied question, one that’s asked either directly or indirectly of parents and other relatives every time such a tragedy unfolds—“Did you see this coming? Why didn’t you stop it?” It’s why, when Arlene Holmes told a reporter “You have the right person,” after her son allegedly went on a shooting rampage in Aurora, Colo., last summer, many assumed she was saying, “I knew it was him.” Holmes later clarified she was talking about herself, not her son. ...</i></i></div>
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<i style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i></i></i><i>These are unfair queries, says Renny Cushing, executive director of the Boston nonprofit Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights. Cushing’s own father, Robert, was murdered in 1988, and Renny has dedicated his life to opposing the death penalty. He has worked with many relatives of murder victims and of killers over the years. Both sides grieve, but in different ways, he says.</i></div>
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<i>“Being the family member of a murderer is incredibly isolating,” Cushing says. “There’s a shame attached to it, a stigma, so they remain silent about their loved one. People will impute responsibility on them for the actions of the family member. Society’s fear gets projected upon you, and you end up being pretty isolated.”</i></div>
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<i>Lois Robison knows that all too well. She knew the day she found out her son had gone on a shooting rampage, she said in the fragile Texas drawl of a 79-year-old woman. That day, she recalls, she turned to her husband and said, “Now our whole lives will be different.”</i></div>
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<i>She was right. Robison had talked to her son Larry just the night before, she said. He was at his sister’s house, and something was wrong. Mom was trying to talk her son into coming over, to her home in Burleson. Larry said he couldn’t.</i></div>
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<i>“The next morning, I woke up and found out he was the one who killed all those people,” she said.</i></div>
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<a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/10/25/wisconsin-spa-shooting-brings-back-painful-memories-for-the-moms-of-mass-killers.html">Read the full article.</a></div>
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<br />Susannah Shefferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01632054044484377220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5787561676629617715.post-11333718891091581362012-10-24T08:10:00.002-04:002012-10-24T08:10:44.368-04:00The Way Forward: Today at the UN<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In conjunction with the 67th Session of the UN General Assembly, the Special Procedures Branch of the </span><span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.22em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Office of High Commissioner on Human Rights will host a side-event this evening at the UN in New York, on the topic of "</span></span><span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.22em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Death Penalty and Human Rights: The Way Forward." We are honored that Renny Cushing has been asked to speak at this event, representing Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights.</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 15px;"><span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.22em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 15px;"><span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.22em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black;"><span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.22em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The</span></span><span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.22em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> event features the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Christof Heyns, and the UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Juan Mendez. Other speakers will be representing </span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-size: 13px; line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the World Organization Against Torture, Penal Reform International, Amnesty International, and the U.S. Program of Human Rights Watch.</span></span>Susannah Shefferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01632054044484377220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5787561676629617715.post-40605789816387994462012-10-16T08:54:00.001-04:002012-10-16T08:54:35.791-04:00In Geneva<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We just got this photo of Renny Cushing representing MVFHR at the <a href="http://www.mvfhr.blogspot.com/2012/10/world-day-against-death-penalty.html">panel discussion</a> on World Day Against the Death Penalty, held in Geneva last week. Thanks to all who helped to organize this powerful event.Susannah Shefferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01632054044484377220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5787561676629617715.post-3003310078285485202012-10-12T09:21:00.002-04:002012-10-12T09:21:31.006-04:00Speaking out in Oklahoma<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From the Associated Press, 10/10/12, "</span><a href="http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/1b177a865be84f4eb4206e0d68db69f0/OK--Death-Penalty-Opposition"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Okla. church leaders, murder victim's daughter to join national effort, denounce death penalty</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">":</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>OKLAHOMA CITY — The daughter of a slain Kansas Highway Patrol trooper will join church leaders from across the state as part of an anti-death penalty initiative in Oklahoma.</i></span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Neely Goen (GOH'-ehn) and members of the Oklahoma Conference of Churches will release a theological statement in opposition to the death penalty during the event Wednesday at the Oklahoma State Capitol.</i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Goen is an ordained minister from Wellston whose father, Kansas Highway Patrol trooper Conroy O'Brien, was gunned down on a Kansas turnpike east of Wichita in 1978. Goen is now an advocate for the abolishment of the death penalty.</i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Oklahoma has executed four inmates so far in 2012, and Attorney General Scott Pruitt has asked the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals to set execution dates for two other death row prisoners.</i></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And from KOKH-TV in Oklahoma City, "</span><a href="http://www.okcfox.com/newsroom/top_stories/videos/kokh_vid_7402.shtml"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A Murder Victim's Daughter Speaks Against the Death Penalty</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">":</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>OKLAHOMA CITY, OK -- Opponents of capital punishment gather at the Capitol to observe the 10th World Day Against the Death Penalty.</i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"I am here today because I believe we need to abolish the death penalty in Oklahoma," said Bishop Michael Girlinghouse of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.</i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Neely Goen is the daughter of a slain Kansas Highway Patrol Officer Conroy O'Brien.</i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"There was some issues with dealing with the anger," said Goen.</i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Goen never knew her father. He was killed five months before she was born.</i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"I was a huge supporter of the death penalty until age 24 or 25 then God showed me this guy's life is worth just as much as mine," said Goen.</i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Goen says through her faith she came to forgive her father's killer and form a relationship with him.</i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"I want people to realize that everybody no matter right, no matter wrong, no matter whether they've cut you off in traffic or killed your brother, they're still a human being and all you're doing by taking them is causing more pain."</i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>While Goen's perspective on the death penalty changed as she got older, she quickly learned not everyone would agree with her.</i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"I believe these people should pay the ultimate price in my opinion," said State Rep. Mike Sanders.</i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Rep. Sanders argues capital punishment serves as a deterrent. He also believes it holds people accountable for their actions.</i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Oklahoma has executed four inmates so far in 2012. Attorney General Scott Pruitt has asked the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals to set execution dates for two other death row prisoners.</i></span><br />
Susannah Shefferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01632054044484377220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5787561676629617715.post-46827825672282980902012-10-10T08:37:00.002-04:002012-10-10T08:37:11.371-04:00World Day Against the Death Penalty<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today is World Day Against the Death Penalty! This </span><a href="http://www.worldcoalition.org/Calendar-of-events.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">calendar of events</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> gives a sense of what is happening today all across the globe and helps us all feel part of a worldwide effort to abolish the death penalty.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Renny Cushing is representing Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights on a panel discussion held today at the Palais de Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. The event is organized by the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty and the International Commission Against the Death Penalty. Here's the description:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<b><i>In 2007, the UN General Assembly adopted a landmark resolution on the moratorium on the death penalty, introduced by the European Union and a cross-regional group of countries. Since then, the resolution has enjoyed increasing support. However, challenges to achieving the universal moratorium and the ultimate abolition of the death sentence remain. The panel will gather activists from around the world to discuss and analyse, each from an unique perspective, the progress made over the past decade, and the remaining challenges in the worldwide campaign against the death penalty.</i></b><div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As always, MVFHR is honored to join with others in the international community who share our goal of abolishing the death penalty. We look forward to hearing, and sharing, more reports of the day.</span></div>
Susannah Shefferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01632054044484377220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5787561676629617715.post-56910672335433220352012-10-08T09:20:00.001-04:002012-10-08T09:20:46.226-04:00International Roundtable<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Today Renny Cushing is representing Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights at the</span><a href="http://www.icomdp.org/2012/10/6th-meeting-of-the-international-commission-against-the-death-penalty-icdp-icdp-will-hold-its-6th-meeting-in-madrid-8-9-october-2012/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> Roundtable on the abolition of the death penalty</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">, sponsored by the International Commission against the Death Penalty and held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Madrid. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The roundtable, according to the description, "will review developments on the death penalty and identify legal and political challenges and opportunities for the coming five years." Renny, of course, will be talking about working with victims who oppose the death penalty. We'll post more information as we get it.</span>Susannah Shefferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01632054044484377220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5787561676629617715.post-65380713505210727562012-09-25T13:30:00.000-04:002012-09-25T13:30:02.166-04:00Those who have lost the most<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From today's Huntsville (Alabama) Times:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444e5c; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; line-height: normal;"><br /></span></span></i></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444e5c; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;"><i>Amy Bishop shot up a room of university colleagues because some of them voted against granting her tenure, prosecutors argued Monday, yet two years later the families of those same victims at the University of Alabama in Huntsville may have saved her life. </i></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Bishop was allowed to enter a guilty plea o</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>n Sept. 11 to capital murder and avoid the death penalty after Madison County District Attorney Rob Broussard learned some of the victims' families strongly opposed capital punishment.</i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Broussard was asked following the trial why he didn't seek the death penalty anyway, given the severity of the crime.</i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"I think that would probably be the ultimate arrogance on my part," Broussard said. "But in deciding whether to seek the death penalty, there are lots of facets involved in that decision. Partly the defendant themselves and the severity of the crime. On those two fronts, the death penalty is certainly warranted in this case.</i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"But if you look at the folks who had the most at stake, who have lost the most, and victims' families, for me to disregard those feelings and forge ahead, I would be ashamed."</i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://blog.al.com/breaking/2012/09/amy_bishop_will_be_in_prison_f.html">Read the full article.</a></span></div>
Susannah Shefferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01632054044484377220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5787561676629617715.post-33511169350548292702012-09-25T08:51:00.000-04:002012-09-25T08:51:08.429-04:00Day of Remembrance<br />
Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights<br />
Statement on National Day of Remembrance for Murder Victims<br />
September 25, 2012<br />
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Today is a National Day of Remembrance for Murder Victims. It is a day to hold the victims of murder in our hearts and minds not as statistics but as distinct individuals, each unlike any other. It is a day to acknowledge each homicide as a singular, incomparable tragedy and to recognize that each homicide is a theft of a unique, irreplaceable, deeply loved human life, representing a world of devastation for the victim's surviving family and friends.<br />
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Today Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights joins with other victims' groups across the United States in honoring our loved ones' lives and renewing our commitment to working toward a better world.<br />
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Susannah Shefferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01632054044484377220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5787561676629617715.post-43616188454845732862012-09-21T09:40:00.000-04:002012-09-21T09:40:06.096-04:00Working in MontanaMVFHR board member Walt Everett is in Montana doing a series of speaking events organized by the <a href="http://www.mtabolitionco.org/">Montana Abolition Coalition.</a> Here's an excerpt from an article that ran as the top story in a local Montana newspaper with the headline "<a href="http://www.choteauacantha.com/news/article_b863ae0a-027c-11e2-a41d-0019bb2963f4.html">Death penalty opponents work to repeal statute</a>":<br />
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<i>Death penalty opponents last week
stepped up their efforts to convince the Montana Legislature to repeal
the state’s death penalty statute and replace it with life in prison
without the possibility of parole.</i><br />
<i>
</i><span class="paragraph-1"><i>
</i><i>An
organization called Montana Conservatives Concerned about the Death
Penalty issued a call to political conservatives in the Legislature to
work on the repeal of the death penalty.</i><br />
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<i>At the same time, the Montana Abolition
Coalition for ending the death penalty brought Connecticut speaker and
death penalty opponent Walter Everett to speak in several Montana
towns, including Choteau.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>The
conservative political group made its statements following state
District Judge Jeffrey Sherlock’s ruling last week that the protocols
by which death row inmates are executed in Montana violate both state
law and the Montana Constitution, the group said in a news release. The
judge has ordered the Legislature and the Department of Corrections to
change the rules for executing inmates.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>“Conservatives
dislike waste and inefficiency. That is why we should cast a critical
eye when the state is involved with the business of executing people,”
MTCCADAP Advisory Committee member Roy Brown of Billings said in the
news release. “When it takes over 20 years and hundreds of thousands of
taxpayer dollars for extra legal fees and court costs, it is obvious
that the process if full of waste and inefficiency.”</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
And:<br />
<br />
<i>Everett, the pastor of the United Methodist Church in Hartford,
Conn., began his journey to becoming a death penalty opponent in 1987,
when a drugged out, hard luck man, Mike Carlucci, shot and killed
Everett’s 24-year-old son, Scott, whose only transgression was that he
had locked himself out of his apartment building in Bridgeport, Conn.,
and was pounding on the exterior door, in hopes that one of the
first-floor tenants would hear him and let him in.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Carlucci,
strung out on three days of drugs, came out of his apartment with a
handgun, listened to Scott’s entreaties and then shot him. Scott died
at the scene and Carlucci was arrested almost immediately.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Speaking
to Choteau residents, Everett replayed those difficult days and months
and recounted a journey that he never expected or wanted to take, but
that with “God’s nudging” he is continuing to take.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>In
the wake of this personal journey, Everett has become an outspoken
opponent of the death penalty. His work with the Murder Victims
Families for Human Rights movements helped to convince the Connecticut
state government earlier this year to repeal the death penalty there,
becoming the fifth state nationwide in five years to repeal the death
penalty.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Everett opened his program
by asking those present to define their perception of the Christian God
as one of forgiveness and mercy, not one of vengeance. He took
listeners through a short foray into Old and New Testament scripture
and ultimately made the position that God does not endorse revenge but
instead calls upon his followers to forgive those who trespass against
them.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Everett said he was well
aware of Christianity’s emphasis on loving your neighbor and your God,
but when his son was killed, he did not know how to go on.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>He
spent the next year trying to cope, falling into depression and losing
his ability to reach out to his own parishioners. A support group for
families who have lost loved ones to murder did not help. In fact, it
highlighted to him that unless he took another path he could be filled
with anger and grief for decades.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Everett
and his family planned Scott’s funeral and contacted police for updates
on the murder. They even talked to witnesses, gathering additional
information that they tried, unsuccessfully to give to the police. “I
festered in my anger,” Everett recalled.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<a href="http://www.choteauacantha.com/news/article_b863ae0a-027c-11e2-a41d-0019bb2963f4.html">Read the full article</a>.<br />
<br />
Susannah Shefferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01632054044484377220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5787561676629617715.post-72457493989210383392012-09-19T09:13:00.001-04:002012-09-19T09:13:44.708-04:00Fall newsletter!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our fall/winter newsletter is now available, with the feature story "After Repeal: Reflections from Victims' Families," interviews with Tom Mauser about going public after a tragedy and Jody Lynee Madeira about the myth of closure, and our usual sections on "MVFHR in Action" and "Victim Opposition to the Death Penalty in the News."</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.mvfhr.org/sites/default/files/MVFHRnlfall%2712.pdf">Read the issue here</a>.</span><br />
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Susannah Shefferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01632054044484377220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5787561676629617715.post-67267992258122802102012-09-15T15:55:00.000-04:002012-09-15T16:57:10.982-04:00A victim's plea for mercyFrom MVFHR Board Chair Vicki Schieber's <a href="http://articles.philly.com/2012-09-14/news/33845199_1_violent-crime-life-sentence-shannon">op-ed</a>, which appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer on Friday, September 14. Vicki will be in Harrisburg on Monday testifying at the clemency hearing. See <a href="http://www.mvfhr.blogspot.com/2012/09/we-stand-in-solidarity.html">yesterday's post</a> for the letter that MVFHR submitted to the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons.<br />
<br />
<i>A victim's plea for mercy. </i><br />
<i>Many have come forward with concerns about the execution of
Terrance Williams, which is to take place Oct. 3 unless his sentence is
commuted. One objection in particular should be given great weight:
that of Mamie Norwood, the widow of the man Williams killed in 1984.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>I know what it means to lose someone you love to violence. In 1998, my
beautiful daughter, Shannon, was murdered in Philadelphia. Shannon was
a brilliant young woman and a student at the Wharton School. Every year
that passes is full of reminders of what she might have become if not
for an act of brutal, senseless violence.</i><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></i>
<i>Losing a loved one to murder is a tragedy of unimaginable proportions.
At first, my husband and I didn't know how we could go on with our
lives. In the years since, working as an advocate for others affected
by violent crime, I have learned that this is not unusual among
victims' families. Many experience a similar cycle of emotions, from
confusion and despair to anger and, for the lucky ones, some kind of
peace, acceptance, and ability to continue living productive lives.</i><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></i>
<div class="mod-phillyarticletextwithadcpc mod-phillyarticletext mod-articletext" id="mod-article-text-2">
<i>
For my husband and me, our lifelong Catholic faith was the cornerstone
of our ability to heal. All Christian faiths are based on humility
before God and kindness to others. We are commanded to follow the
Lord's Prayer, asking God to "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive
those who trespass against us." And because of our beliefs, we did not
want the man who murdered our daughter to be put to death.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>
Shannon's murderer was known as the "Center City rapist." In addition
to the murder of our daughter, he was ultimately charged with 13 sexual
assaults in Pennsylvania and Colorado.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i> When our preference for a
sentence of life in prison was made public, many wondered whether our
wishes should be honored. The district attorney even publicly
questioned our emotional health. This disrespect for a victim's family
was an unexpected and very painful blow at a time when we were
struggling to heal from the loss we had suffered.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i> I pray that
Mamie Norwood gets more respect than we did. ...</i><br />
<br />
<a href="http://articles.philly.com/2012-09-14/news/33845199_1_violent-crime-life-sentence-shannon/2">Rest the rest.</a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Susannah Shefferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01632054044484377220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5787561676629617715.post-76594191498367948302012-09-13T15:21:00.000-04:002012-09-13T15:21:03.713-04:00We stand in solidarityMVFHR sent this letter to the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons in support of Terry Williams's <a href="http://www.terrywilliamsclemency.com/index.html">clemency application</a>: <div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">To the Honorable Governor Tom Corbett and Members of the Board of
Pardons: </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="FreeForm">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">We, the members of Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights, write to
support the petition of clemency for Terry Williams. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="FreeForm">
<br /></div>
<div class="FreeForm">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights (MVFHR) is
a victim-founded, victim-led</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia Bold"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">national
organization of people who have lost family members to murder or execution and
oppose the death penalty. We have members in Pennsylvania and throughout
the United States. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="FreeForm">
<br /></div>
<div class="FreeForm">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">As murder victims' family members, we stand in solidarity with
Mamie Norwood, whose husband Amos Norwood was murdered by Terry Williams in
1984. Ms. Norwood has stated unequivocally that she does not want Mr.
Williams to be executed and that she supports his petition
for clemency. We know from our own experiences, and from her
<a href="http://www.terrywilliamsclemency.com/NorwoodM_1-17-12.pdf">statement</a>, that Ms. Norwood's position comes despite her tremendous pain, and
is part of a journey that only other murder victims' family members can
understand. We support her in her courageous stand against the execution
of Terry Williams, and ask that you honor her request that his sentence be
commuted to life in prison.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="FreeForm">
<br /></div>
<div class="FreeForm">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The members of our organization know the pain of losing a beloved family
member to murder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having all
suffered a tragic loss, we have come in different ways and times to the
understanding that the death penalty does not help us heal, and is not what we
need to feel that justice has been served. A sentence of life in prison
fulfills the purpose of holding murderers accountable for their terrible
crimes, and keeps society safe. We have come to understand that an
execution does not bring our family member back, but does create another
grieving family. We stand as well with the family of Terry Williams who
will suffer tremendously if he is put to death. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">We ask that you hear the request for mercy from Ms. Mamie Norwood in her
opposition to the execution of Terry Williams, and we ask that you recognize
that, in the face of her stand against it, to continue with his
execution has the potential to cause Ms. Norwood additional pain. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="FreeForm">
<br /></div>
<div class="FreeForm">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">As victims, and in support of the victim in this case, we support
clemency for Terry Williams.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="FreeForm">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Thank you.</span><span style="font-family: "Lucida Grande"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Susannah Shefferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01632054044484377220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5787561676629617715.post-53066096964645195302012-08-21T09:03:00.002-04:002012-08-21T09:03:53.105-04:00Challenging the Stereotype<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yesterday's Salon.com has this reposted this story from <a href="http://www.thecrimereport.org/news/inside-criminal-justice/2012-08-retooling-the-death-penalty-debate">The Crime Report</a>:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Death penalty opponents' unlikely allies. </i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><h2 style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; font-weight: normal !important; line-height: 20px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Across the country, family members of murder victims have come out against capital punishment</i></span></span></h2>
<span class="byline" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline-block; font-weight: normal !important; line-height: 24px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>BY </i></span><a href="http://www.salon.com/writer/graham_kates/" rel="author" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>GRAHAM KATES</i></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>, </i></span><a href="http://www.thecrimereport.org/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>THE CRIME REPORT</i></span></a></span></span><div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="byline" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline-block; font-weight: normal !important; line-height: 24px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></span></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="byline" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline-block; font-weight: normal !important; line-height: 24px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; text-transform: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Victoria Coward remembers hearing the gunshots ring out from Edgewood Park, not far from her New Haven, Conn., home in June 2007. Later that night her worst fears were realized when detectives knocked on her front door.</i></span></span></span></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="byline" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline-block; font-weight: normal !important; line-height: 24px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; text-transform: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; line-height: 20px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Her 18-year-old son, Tyler, was dead from gunshot wounds to the head and chest.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; line-height: 20px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Two years later, when police arrested and charged Jose Fuentes-Pillich, a 23-year-old who she thought was Tyler’s friend, Coward had already joined a campaign against the death penalty.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; line-height: 20px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>When she contacted Fuentes-Pillich after his conviction in 2010, she explained why she didn’t wish him dead.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; line-height: 20px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>“I told him it would be wrong for me to say, ‘You should die.’ That’s not in me. That’s in God’s hands … the first thing I need to do is forgive you for taking my son’s life,” Coward recalled in an interview with </i></span></span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Crime Report</span></span></em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>.</i></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Connecticut became the 17th state to abolish the death penalty in April. As opponents step up their national campaign, they are discovering some surprising allies among people like Coward — challenging the long-held stereotype that the families of murder victims automatically support capital punishment.</i></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.salon.com/2012/08/20/retooling_the_death_penalty_debate_salpart/">Read the whole article.</a></span></span></div>
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Susannah Shefferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01632054044484377220noreply@blogger.com0