Wounds That Do Not Bind: Victim-Based Perspectives on the Death Penalty

by James R. Acker

For more information about the authors, click . This volume presents perspectives of murder victims' family members, academics, and crime victims' advocates regarding an intensely debated issue about which surprisingly little information the significance of capital punishment to murder victims' survivors. The book includes more than twenty chapters that examine a variety of issues concerning these survivors, or co-victims, and the death penalty. These chapters present the personal accounts of victims' family members' experiences with the criminal justice system and examine relevant legal and research issues, including the use of victim impact evidence in capital trials, how the capital punishment process affects co-victims, what is known about the immediate and long-term needs of murder victims' survivors, and how those needs can be addressed. "[A] valuable collection." ― Crime Victims Report "This manuscript is unique, exploring an area that has generally been neglected in both the scholarly and public press… The academic chapters are well referenced and adequately indexed… The book is well written with clear prose, within the reach of most readers." ― CHOICE Magazine " Wounds That Do Not Bind will be most effective in undergraduate criminal courses; it offers students a rich portrait of victim-based perspectives not likely to be found in textbooks… The book should also be read by key criminal justice practitioners ― prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, and police ― many of whom might gain some startling insights into their own behaviors and their impact on outsiders." ― Law & Politics Book Review

464 pages, Paperback

First published January 30, 2006

Reviews

[Elizabeth Theiss Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Death penalty supporters often use closure for victims as an important impact of the death penalty. James Acker's gives us the first scholarly book on the subject, one that I found compelling.

What is the impact of the death penalty on the families of victims? First, closure is surprisingly absent, even following executions. First, most death sentences are set aside for trial flaws or subsequent findings of actual innocence. Families are sometimes informed of the progress of the appeals process, prolonging the healing process. If an execution finally occurs, the victim's family is often notified and invited to be present. Those who do opt to be present often feel that the experience did not give them peace but the years of appeals had prolonged the process of personal healing.

One seldom-mentioned issue is the lack of standing that families have during the entire capital trial process. In many cases, victims' families oppose capital punishment and request that prosecutors refrain from filing capital charges. However, the families have no standing in the proceedings and their wishes have no bearing on the charging decisions that prosecutors.

Acker has assembled here the voices of victims' families and scholars to make a compelling case that, if closure is a goal of the death penalty, it is unfulfilled. Well worth reading for death penalty supporters and opponents for its fresh perspective and important information of how the death penalty actually functions for victims' families.