NEBRASKANS AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY 941 “O” STREET, LINCOLN, NE 68508 ♦ (402) 477-7787 ♦ WWW.NADP.NET ♦ INFO@NADP.NET

The Closure Myth How the death penalty fails

victims’ families To be meaningful, justice should be swift and sure. The death penalty is neither. Capital punishment prolongs pain for victims’ families, dragging them through an agonizing and lengthy process that holds out the promise of an execution at the beginning but often results in a different sentence in the end. A life without parole sentence, on the other hand, begins as soon as victims’ families leave the courtroom and is served anonymously, outside the spotlight of the media cameras. Neither swift nor sure

In Nebraska, it takes an average of almost 16 years from the time of an original death sentence to an execution. Several victims’ families have agonized through over 20 years of appeals and re-trials, waiting for a final outcome in their loved ones cases.i

Miriam Kelle of Beatrice, Nebraska is the sister of murder victim Jim Thimm. She has sat through 21 years of the trials and appeals of Michael Ryan, the death row inmate convicted of killing her brother. “I loved [Jim] beyond what I can put in words,” says Kelle, “but killing Ryan won’t bring him back. I don’t want another family to suffer the loss and grief mine has…We’ve spent all this money on the wrong end. We’ve got to stop murderers before they kill, not put all our resources into executing them afterwards.” ii

“A prosecutor is called upon to explain to family members why the state is seeking one penalty or

another in any crime. The existence of the death penalty on the books perpetrates a cruel illusion that they may have vengeance, when in reality the system requires years of appeals, repeatedly putting the victims through the nightmare of their loved one’s death again each time the case is in the news, and the execution itself is not guaranteed.” —Brent Bloom, former Chief Deputy Prosecutor, Douglas Countyiii

A life without parole sentence begins immediately—as soon as victims’ families leave the courtroom

instead of leaving them in limbo for years—and is served anonymously, outside the spotlight of news cameras and public scrutiny.

The death penalty ignores the real needs of surviving families

The death penalty’s cumbersome and expensive process diverts millions of dollars and attention from the critical services that homicide survivors need to help them heal, including specialized grief counseling, financial assistance, and ongoing support. In most states, these services are sorely lacking. The few services that are available are often provided through the prosecutor’s office, and when the criminal case is over, the services for the victim’s family members end, too.

“The criminal justice system is hard enough on survivors. When the death penalty is added to the process, the survivor’s connection to the system becomes a long-term and often multi-decade night-mare that almost never ends in the promised result.”iv

- Kathy Garcia, trauma expert, grief counselor, and aunt of a murder victim

For families in unsolved murders, there is the added pain of never learning what happened to their loved ones. Meanwhile, the perpetrators remain on the streets, free to kill again, while countless law enforcement hours are spent chasing a handful of executions instead of solving more cases.

The death penalty divides families when they need each other most

The death penalty has split families apart, forcing relatives with different perspectives on the issue to engage in a polarizing debate at the time when they need each other most. Families are asked to weigh in on the prosecutor’s decision to seek the death penalty at a time when they are still processing the shock of the news of the murder. They are in no position to evaluate how the long process will effect them years down the road.

In cases where the defendant and victim are related, families are even further torn apart. In a number of cases, for example, children must first cope with the murder of one parent and then suffer retraumatization when the other parent is executed for the crime.

Can we make the system faster?

The death penalty is the nation’s only irreversible punishment. The process is longer because a life is on the line. Many of the extra procedures are legally mandated to reduce the risk of executing an innocent person.

Even these safeguards are not enough – at least 130 people have been exonerated from death row after waiting years or decades for the truth to come out. Streamlining the process would virtually guarantee the execution of an innocent person.

i Nebraska Commission on Public Advocacy, Nebraska Capital Cases, 2007. Anna Jo Bratton, "Victim's sister hopes to make death penalty personal for senators," Associated Press, January 8, 2008; JoAnne Young, "Uneven Justice: Families of murder victims live with the memories," Lincoln Journal Star, November 12, 2007 ii NADP Newsletter, Winter 2007 iii Letter, Brent Bloom to Nebraska Judiciary Committee, February 1, 2008. iv Testimony before the Maryland Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, March 6, 2008. v Letter to the editor, cited by Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights newsletter, Spring 2008

“The death penalty offers a false promise of closure to victims’ families, who are led to believe that an execution will bring relief. While families wait through the lengthy, roller-coaster appeals process, reliving our original pain again and again, the focus remains on the murderer rather that on the victims or on our own anguish as surviving family members. The death penalty is a distraction from victims’ real needs, not a solution.”v

- Renny Cushing, Executive Director, Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights

Renny’s father was murdered in 1988.