Last week, two dozen family members who lost loved ones to murder gathered at the Connecticut state capitol to highlight the death penalty’s harmful impact on victims’ families.
“The death penalty is not given out equally,” said Khalilah Brown-Dean, whose cousin was murdered. “It’s about saying certain cases are more important than others, certain crimes are more heinous than others. We see that there’s bias in terms of class, social class, and gender and for families it’s really a slap in our face.”
The speakers also released a letter signed by 179 Connecticut residents who all lost loved ones to murder. The letter called on the legislature to immediately repeal the death penalty. The coalition of victims’ families calling for repeal has more than doubled since last year, when their letter had 76 family members signed on.
In 2009 Connecticut passed a bill that would have repealed the death penalty, but it was vetoed by then Governor Rell. In 2011 repeal seemed like a done deal until two pro-repeal senators decided to delay their votes until 2012. Ever determined, supporters of repeal are back again this year with bills under consideration in both legislative houses.
Victims’ families have also launched a blog to provide an ongoing space for their voices to be heard. You can read their powerful testimonials at www.ctvictimvoices.org.
EJUSA’s Colleen was on the ground in Hartford during last week’s press event. “These tenacious family members won’t stop until the people making decisions on their behalf begin to understand the real needs of victims. It is an honor to learn from these incredible individuals about how the system fails them over and over again, and to work with them for policies that will do better.”
This year promises a lot of action and opportunity for repeal advocates, and we need your help. If you’re a Nutmegger, please take action at www.ejusa.org/act/CT. And if you aren’t a Connecticut resident, please share the link with those you know who are!
