|
At year end 2007, 35 states and the federal prison system held 3,220 prisoners under sentence of death.
Since the death penalty was reinstated by the Supreme Court in 1976, white inmates have made up more than half of the number under sentence of death
Death row inmates and their families, and love ones face even more difficult issues. We hardly give them a second thought. Nobody seems to care about them or the effect of waiting on the death row inmate to be executed. They truly suffer in silence. The stories of survival after their parents, children, brother, sister, spouse, loved one has been executed is something most people cannot comprehend.
In a very large number, families of the death row inmate never speak to anyone about their personal struggles. Not with friends, doctors, anyone. They hold it in for many years, sometimes decades. Some feel very compelled to try and help the condemned family member and go to extremes to do so, getting involved in the legal system, becoming attorneys, speaking out publicly to thousands of people. Some family members of the condemned are very torn between trying to help and just withdrawing completely, wishing it would just all go away.
The trauma of having a family member on death row and/or a family member that has been executed, is so intense that most psychological experts are not even close to being able to assist these individuals. The long term effects have never been studied extensively.
Years of the legal system, scheduled executions, and the execution, takes a toll on the physical and mental state of everyone involved. Including the family of the person killed.
In many cases, there are several scheduled executions . The stories of the years of waiting for the death row inmate to be executed is enough to make us re-think what is truly cruel and unusual punishment. This affects both the victim(s) family and the condemned(s) family.
To make funeral arraignments for the death row inmate prior to execution, spending the last moments with your family member saying goodbye, and preparing to witness the execution is something that most people cannot truly understand.
It is true that the families of the victim(s) have suffered the loss of their family member because of the inmate. However, one must realize the family of the death row inmate was not responsible for their family member(s) death(s) and will also lose a member of their family. The difference is they know the exact time and date their family member will be executed. And in most cases it will not be as violent as the way the victim(s) family member was killed. However, the pain is still there and the loss is still there. In some cases the family of the death row inmate feels responsible for what the death row inmate has done. They may also feel guilty for loving their family member and/or supporting them.
In some cases, both families might feel that closure will come once the death row inmate is executed. However, some have come to realize the execution of the death row inmate will not bring the closure that either one of these families want and need....Some have come to realize the death row inmate has to be forgiven and that forgiveness is a gift that you give to yourself, not the inmate. Forgiveness of the inmate takes the inmates power away and gives the family member control and the ability to have closure...
The death penalty does not serve the victims "family members" or the condemned(s) "family members". It is cruel and unusual punishment for both sets of victims to wait years on an execution. The death penalty affects all who come in contact with it. Studies show that those involved with capital punishment system-jurors, correction officers, witnesses to the execution, families of the victims and families of the condemed-are deeply affected by it. The deliberate and premeditated act of killing another human being is in complete opposition to the core values of humanity. No healthy person can possibly be unaffected.
|