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| New Report Reveals Bias Against Family Members Who Oppose Death Penalty |
| By U.S. Newswire |
| Published: 08/27/2002 |
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A new report released August 19 paints a startling picture of systemic bias and discrimination by those who serve victims against surviving family members who, contrary to popular stereotype, oppose the death penalty. ''Dignity Denied: The Experience of Murder Victims' Family Members Who Oppose the Death Penalty'' was released by Murder Victims' Families for Reconciliation (MVFR). MVFR is a victim-founded, victim-led organization that represents murder victims' families who oppose the death penalty. MVFR Executive Director Renny Cushing, a former New Hampshire state legislator whose father was murdered in 1988, will present ''Dignity Denied'' at the annual conference of the National Organization for Victim Assistance, scheduled for this week in Nashville, Tenn. The report can be downloaded by going to http://www.mvfr.org and clicking on ''What's New.'' ''Too often, family members who oppose the death penalty are silenced, marginalized, and abandoned, even by the people who are theoretically charged with helping them,'' Cushing said. The victims' rights movement of the late '70s gave rise to victims' rights laws and victim assistance programs, with the goal of enabling victims to be ''informed, present, and heard'' throughout the criminal justice process. But today, Cushing explained, ''victims' services usually operate under the auspices of the prosecutor, so rights are granted and enforced only at the prosecutor's discretion.'' Cushing explained that there are three primary ways victims who oppose the death penalty face discrimination: denying family members the right to speak and be heard at trial and before clemency hearings; denying family members the right to receive important information about legal proceedings, such as court dates; and denying family members the right to forms of assistance such as counseling. |
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