The mental wellbeing of victims’ families is at stake during death penalty cases.

A psychologist, Katherine Norgard, had a son who was sentenced to death and stated, “ Family members of the condemned are marginalized when their government decrees that the family’s loved one is dispensable, and the machinery of the death penalty begins its slow grind toward the goal of execution. The ongoing loving bond between the family members and the condemned becomes invisible to others outside death row.”

~King, Rachel. “The Impact of Capital Punishment on Families of Defendants and Murder Victims’ Family Members.” Judicature, vol. 89, no. 3, 2006, pp. 292-295.

Victims’ families are being ignored when they oppose the death sentence due to the prosecution having intent on “ seeking the most extreme punishment” (DPIC).

Victoria Coward, a grieving mother, wrote “ OP-ED | Murder Victim’s Mother Suggests the Big Picture Is More Important”, where she provided a potential solution suggesting that instead of spending millions on sentencing individuals to death, spend that money on resources to help the grieving families. Victoria stated, “ If we are serious about helping surviving victims — all of us — we need to see the bigger picture. The bigger picture is that the death penalty is given in fewer than 1 percent of cases, yet it sucks up millions and millions of dollars that could be put toward crime prevention or victims’ services. What I wouldn’t give for a tiny slice of those millions to give my grieving daughters some professional help to process the death of their brother.”

If the death penalty is supposed to give justice to victims and their families then why are we not doing more to help them?

The mental wellbeing of victims’ families is at stake during death penalty cases.

A psychologist, Katherine Norgard, had a son who was sentenced to death and stated, “ Family members of the condemned are marginalized when their government decrees that the family’s loved one is dispensable, and the machinery of the death penalty begins its slow grind toward the goal of execution. The ongoing loving bond between the family members and the condemned becomes invisible to others outside death row.”

~King, Rachel. “The Impact of Capital Punishment on Families of Defendants and Murder Victims’ Family Members.” Judicature, vol. 89, no. 3, 2006, pp. 292-295.

Victims’ families are being ignored when they oppose the death sentence due to the prosecution having intent on “ seeking the most extreme punishment” (DPIC).

Victoria Coward, a grieving mother, wrote “ OP-ED | Murder Victim’s Mother Suggests the Big Picture Is More Important”, where she provided a potential solution suggesting that instead of spending millions on sentencing individuals to death, spend that money on resources to help the grieving families. Victoria stated, “ If we are serious about helping surviving victims — all of us — we need to see the bigger picture. The bigger picture is that the death penalty is given in fewer than 1 percent of cases, yet it sucks up millions and millions of dollars that could be put toward crime prevention or victims’ services. What I wouldn’t give for a tiny slice of those millions to give my grieving daughters some professional help to process the death of their brother.”

If the death penalty is supposed to give justice to victims and their families then why are we not doing more to help them?