Victim's families and the death penalty

As I was doing some research for my final paper I came across this article that has to do with the death penalty. There is a man in California who has pleaded guilty to murdering two people and as part of his plea deal he won’t be facing the death penalty. Surprisingly the family of one of the victims is actually happy that this man is not getting the death penalty because in California the death penalty is something that doesn’t happen a lot. In fact there have only been 13 executions in the state since 1976.

This article reminded me our class discussion where someone mentioned that the death penalty would be worse for the victim’s families because of all of the appeals that would come up and remind them of the murder. Therefore, some people believe that it is better if the accused is given life in prison rather than the death penalty so that the families of the victims don’t have to go through the pain every couple of years. Do you believe that life in prison is better for the families of the victims? Should victim’s families make their opinions known on whether they prefer the death penalty or life in prison?

http://blogs.kansascity.com/crime_scene/2010/04/calif-death-penalty-an-empty-promise-victims-dad-says.html