75 Pro Death Penalty Quotes by Victims' Rights Activists

	There is no freedom without justice. Simon Wiesenthal KBE (December 31, 1908 – September 20, 2005) was an Austrian Holocaust survivor who became famous after World War II for his work as a Nazi hunter. Following four and a half years in the German concentration camps such as Janowska, Plaszow, and Mauthausen during World War II, Wiesenthal dedicated most of his life to tracking down and gathering information on fugitive Nazis so that they could be brought to justice for war crimes and crimes against humanity. In 1947, he co-founded the Jewish Historical Documentation Center in Linz, Austria, in order to gather information for future war crime trials. Later he opened the Jewish Documentation Center in Vienna. Wiesenthal wrote The Sunflower, which describes a life-changing event he experienced when he was in the camp. Wiesenthal died in his sleep at age 96 in Vienna on September 20, 2005, and was buried in the city of Herzliya in Israel on September 23. He is survived by his daughter, Paulinka Kriesberg, and three grandchildren. The Simon Wiesenthal Center, located in Los Angeles in the United States, is named in his honor. Recent biographers such as Tom Segev and Guy Walters have noted that Wiesenthal frequently lied about his own background and exploits, but have also credited Wiesenthal for pursuing justice for Holocaust victims, particularly at a time when the events of the Holocaust were downplayed.
	A new Knesset lobby was established Monday 28 November 2011, to advocate for imposing the death penalty on terrorist murderers. Professor Avraham Gil, who will coordinate the lobby's activity, said at the session: "We are not thirsty for blood. On the contrary, we are acting for life and for the defense of our rights to live in peace and quiet. The terrorists' cruelty forces us to take preventative steps, and this move is vital for deterrence. This was proven in the U.S.: when the death penalty was abolished in the 70s the murder rate rose, and when in was brought back in the 80s the murder rate went down by more than 50 percent." Wednesday 15 February 2012 - Dr. Abe Gill of the organization “We Value Life” stated that the Israeli government should institute a death penalty for terrorists who carry out attacks against Israeli citizens. Dr. Gill spoke to Israel National Radio's Reality Bytes podcast with investigative journalist Josh Hasten. "They will try and convince us that our view is not moral and it will not motivate them to stop," Dr. Gill stated, "But they say the devil is in the details. We are united. We have over 2,000 members in our group and we are growing all the time. I think this is a matter of justice. The blood of the victims is crying out.” Dr. Abraham “Abe” Gill is the founder of WE VALUE LIFE! - "We Value LIFE" is a grass roots organization that supports the death penalty for terrorists who commit MURDER.We have one simple equation: We Value LIFE! - Terrorists Value Death! Our law will make sure they know this: if they take a LIFE they will get what they deserve, “a safe place underground!” The “SILENT Majority” supports such a law and the sooner they wake up the more innocent lives will be saved! Please join our organization and ask your friends to do the same! We will not tolerate any verbal abuse of any religion that includes Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, etc. This group has one mission: Unite all the people of planet earth against terrorists who commit MURDER!
	Marc Klaas of Sausalito, whose daughter Polly was murdered by Richard Allen Davis in 1993, said anti-death penalty activists have a troubling effect on the families of the victims and society in general. "It diminishes the victims when people burn candles and mourn someone who has committed a heinous crime," Klaas said. "People on death row are some of the worst individuals that appear on the face of the earth.” "The abolitionists refuse to acknowledge that evil exists and evil has to be put down." The best way to illustrate that is to point out that there are maybe 750 or more individuals on death row in California, a state that's executed 13 people in the last 30 years. That's what I mean. There's various mechanisms to do that. The one that's being utilized right now is the idea that the administration of the lethal cocktail in the execution process may cause pain to the individual being executed. For the life of me, I don't understand why anybody is concerned about the last 10 minutes of a death row inmate's life, about whether that individual is feeling pain or not. It doesn't make any sense to me. These are people who are being executed for having committed absolute atrocities against innocent people. [Interview: Mark Klaas, Father of Murder Victim Polly Klaas, Speaks in Support of Death Penalty Friday 13 January 2012] But we do know that guilty people on death row who have been released back into society have killed again. These individuals on death row have no consideration for other people's humanity. They tend to be psychopathic and show no remorse for the crimes they have committed. I believe that as they walk that last mile and contemplate their own fate, they perhaps do understand better the value of life. I believe that's a hard-earned lesson, but if it's learned, then I think that's added value to the death penalty. [Interview: Mark Klaas, Father of Murder Victim Polly Klaas, Speaks in Support of Death Penalty Friday 13 January 2012] Thursday 1 March 2012 - Victims advocate Marc Klaas is opposed to the measure. His 12-year-old daughter Polly was murdered in 1993. Her killer, Richard Allen Davis, confessed and is on death row. "I want the guy that murdered my daughter to be executed and I suspect the majority of Californians would like to see the guy that murdered my daughter executed, as they would so many other of these monsters and goons and creeps that exist on death row," Klaas said. Tuesday 17 April 2012 - Anderson’s primary support came from Marc Klass, a well-known advocate for victims whose daughter, Polly, was kidnapped, assaulted and killed by a parolee who has been sitting on death row for nearly 16 years. Klass’ frustration boiled over after the committee rejected Senate Bill 1514 and was on the verge of voting against Senate Constitutional Amendment 20. “You people don’t care about my daughter, You don’t care about any of the victims,” Klass told the panel. After he was admonished and told part of the solution involved money, Klass demanded: “How much does it cost to do nothing? How much does it cost to let this go on year after year? How much does it cost to have Richard Allen Davis on death row for 30 years?” Davis stole into a bedroom of Klass’ suburban Petaluma home, kidnapping by knife point and later killing the 12-year-old Polly. It took nearly 13 years for his automatic appeal to reach the state Supreme Court, which summarily upheld his conviction. His appeal is now before a federal court. Wednesday 25 April 2012 - "The only reason I think about Richard Allen Davis at all is because these people who oppose the death penalty keep throwing this in our faces," said Marc Klaas, whose 12-year-old daughter, Polly Klaas, was kidnapped from her Petaluma home, then raped and strangled. Her body was discarded near an abandoned lumber mill in Cloverdale. Davis was sentenced to death in 1996. He awaits execution. Klaas criticized the backlog of death penalty appeals cases for causing ballooning costs. He also worries that the system would become more lenient if the death penalty is abolished, eventually allowing some people to eventually be released on parole. "There are no guarantees whatsoever, not even an inkling of a guarantee, that replacing the death penalty with life without the possibility of parole will guarantee these people will stay inside," Klaas said. Klaas said that he will be able to stop thinking about his daughter's killer once the man is executed. "Who the hell do they think Richard Allen Davis is? Don't they get what he did, don't they know that Salcido slit the throats of his own daughters?" Klaas said. "Why are they so hell-bent on protecting these individuals?" Monday 20 August 2012 - Davis is one of over 700 inmates currently awaiting death in California, which hasn’t executed anyone since 2006. That year, U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel ordered a moratorium on executions in the state, after hearing complaints about how lethal injections were to be administered. Klaas believes the moratorium is an example of a roadblock to execution engineered by death penalty opponents. “Baby killers, cop killers, mass murderers; I mean really the worst people in society have been deemed worthy of the ultimate law of the land, the death penalty,” Klaas said. “But the abolitionists have created barrier after barrier.” When Klaas knocks death penalty opponents, he makes clear that he understands what motivates many victims’ survivors who take the opposite view. “I know that the ones who deal with it best are those who find the will to fight back, whether it’s for the death penalty, against the death penalty or something else” he said. Wednesday 19 September 2012 - Klaas founded the KlaasKids Foundation in 1994 following the murder of his 12-year-old daughter, Polly Klaas. The murderer, Richard Allen Davis, remains on death row in San Quentin. Klaas said in a phone interview that he never intended to be a spokesman for the No on Proposition 34 campaign. But following his numerous appearances on television and radio advocating for his foundation, he’s become a voice for families of child victims and an advocate for increased safety resources for children. Klaas said he agrees that the death penalty is drawn out and costly, but he takes comfort in knowing his daughter’s killer is in isolation on death row, facing a certain fate, and he is not concerned with the murderer’s appeals process. “Let’s be clear here: It’s not like he’s getting a lot of court dates,” Klaas said. “[Richard Allen] Davis has only had one appeal so far. If he has another one, then so be it. You deal with it. “Believe me,” Klaas added, “the sentence handed down is more in the forefront of the victim’s family’s mind than [how much it costs].” Furthermore, Klaas said groups who have dedicated their time to fighting capital punishment have actually created much of the problem, he said, establishing an appeals process that drags on. “These people are beautiful in being able to put something forth on the ballot that uses all of the hindrances they created as justification to get what they want. It’s one of the most cynical things I’ve ever seen,” Klaas said. “Whatever the most extreme form of punishment is, there will always be a lobby of people saying it’s too extreme.” Law enforcement officials and Proposition 34 opponents contend that many of those cases predate DNA evidence, and that technology these days is far more accurate. “If these guys want to pretend that our prisons are filled with innocent people, they might as well be selling you the Brooklyn Bridge,” Marc Klaas noted. Sunday 14 October 2012 - Conflicting ideas about justice and public safety, underlined by economic considerations, emerged in a public forum Sunday on two state ballot measures that would abolish the death penalty and amend the three strikes law. “If it's not broken, you don't fix it,” child safety advocate Marc Klaas said, asserting that California's three strikes law has “worked superbly” since voters approved it in 1994, a year after his daughter, Polly, was abducted from her Petaluma home and murdered by a repeat offender. “You have half the chance of being the victim of a violent crime than we did in 1994,” Klaas told about 150 people attending a forum called “Changing Criminal Justice in California” at Congregation Shomrei Torah in Santa Rosa. Marc Klaas whose daughter Polly was murdered by Richard Allen Davis on October 1993. He became a child advocate and established the KlaasKids Foundation. He has made himself available to parents of kidnapped children, and has appeared frequently on Larry King Live, CNN Headline News, and Nancy Grace.
	“To make justice a right, not a privilege.” "I just think that the Government's reached the pinnacle of stupidity with these insults to all victims of crime and the community at large," he said. "This guy is a convicted drug smuggler and he was going to bring drugs of mass destruction down here. "I mean he's paid his price, fair enough, but why should the Government MPs be there? "I haven't seen them at any... at my daughter's funeral when she was murdered or anyone else's for that matter while I've been around." Crime Victims Support Association president Noel McNamara this morning backed Mr Finn's calls. "I think the death penalty should be brought back for anyone who takes a life or causes a (loss of) life like happens with drug traffickers," Mr McNamara said. "Of course there’s nothing like permanent rehabilitation on the end of a rope." Noel John McNamara (born 12 January 1938) is an Australian campaigner for victims of crime and outspoken critic of the Australian justice system. In 1993 Noel established the Crime Victims Support Association (CVSA) with his wife Bev McNamara. The association is politically involved and lobbies the government on criminal law reform and greater support for victims of crime.
	Kenneth Lee Boyd (January 19, 1948 – December 2, 2005) was a murderer who was executed by the U.S. state of North Carolina. He was convicted of the March 4, 1988 murder in Stoneville of his wife, Julie Curry Boyd and her father Thomas Dillard Curry. He was pronounced dead at 2:15 a.m. EST on December 2, 2005 at the North Carolina Central Prison in Raleigh by lethal injection. Boyd was the 1,000th person executed since the United States Supreme Court lifted a ban on capital punishment in Gregg v. Georgia. Michael Paranzino, President of the pro-death penalty group Throw Away the Key, agreed. "You'll never stop crimes of passion, but I do believe the death penalty is a general deterrent, and it expresses society's outrage," Mr. Paranzino said. On the eve of Boyd's execution, Paranzino issued a statement urging Americans to remember Boyd's victims—his wife and father-in-law. "When Kenneth Boyd is executed tomorrow morning, let us pause and say a prayer for the 600,000 innocent men, women, and children who have been brutally murdered across America in the time that 1,000 killers have faced justice," Paranzino said in the statement. "Let us also remember Julie Curry Boyd and her father, Thomas Curry, who were murdered in cold blood by Kenneth Boyd." On 14 March 2011, Death penalty campaigners in the US are calling for Theresa Riggi’s execution when she returns to the country after her release in Scotland. She will be sentenced on April 26 at the High Court in Edinburgh after admitting killing her three children on a charge of culpable homicide on the grounds of diminished responsibility. American-born Riggi, 47, of Skene, near Aberdeen, stabbed her eight-year-old twins Austin and Luke and daughter Cecilia, aged five. They were “repeatedly struck with knives”, according to court evidence. She will be deported at the end of whatever sentence is imposed and, if a legal precedent is set by a continuing case in the United States, she could be tried again for the killings in America. “A child killer should face a jury permitted to impose the death penalty, if that is what they decide is appropriate. Handing Riggi a custodial sentence in a cushy Scots jail will anger many Americans who are still appalled that Scotland freed the Lockerbie bomber.” Michael Paranzino is the President of the pro-death penalty group Throw Away the Key. Mr. Paranzino started the advocacy and education group Throw Away The Key in hopes of reducing violent crime. Through Throw Away The Key, Paranzino pushes for longer sentences for convicted rapists and child molesters and the death penalty for convicted murderers. An attorney and former Congressional staffer and lobbyist, Paranzino runs the grassroots, nonprofit alone from his house outside of Washington, DC. Paranzino had been running a small public relations and lobbying firm when he decided to focus full time on raising his children and creating Throw Away The Key. The group has recently received increased media attention because of the 1,000th-execution milestone. Paranzino, who graduated from Yale and attended New York University Law School, said too often convicted rapists and child molesters are let out of prison after short sentences only to commit more crimes. He said his dream for Throw Away The Key is to arrange funding for the organization so he can staff it and eventually turn it over to staff so he can return to work as a lobbyist. Paranzino donates his time to Throw Away The Key and said he may return to working for a paycheck in the future and that selling his tech stocks before the bubble burst has helped his family manage. Michael Paranzino runs the pressure group Throw Away the Key in Kensington, Maryland, and is a former adviser to senior Republican party politicians. He started the group to try to reduce violent crime through longer sentences for convicted rapists and child molesters, and the death penalty for convicted murderers.
	Death-penalty opponents have conceded that they cannot win the argument about whether the death penalty is appropriate in certain circumstances. Despite their best efforts, the public remains convinced that some crimes are so heinous that no other punishment will suffice. [The Guilty Are Being Executed Red herrings from the anti-death-penalty squad] Hence, rather than arguing that capital punishment is immoral, death-penalty opponents have shifted to a utilitarian argument about fairness. Specifically, they have sought to convince people that capital punishment will lead to the execution of many innocents. From a public-relations standpoint, the new tactic makes sense. Arguing that society must protect the innocent from execution sounds more reasonable than insisting that it is an inappropriate punishment for the most brutal crimes. Only diehard opponents of capital punishment and soft-on-crime types can sympathize with the guilty, whereas nobody wants to see an innocent man put to death. *[The Guilty Are Being Executed Red herrings from the anti-death-penalty squad]* If DNA evidence can be used to prove that the wrong man was convicted, then it can be used to remove any remaining doubt about a prisoner's guilt. Far from undermining confidence in capital punishment, DNA evidence will only help increase the certainty about the guilt of those sentenced to die. As most law students learn in evidence class, it is normally the job of the defense at a criminal trial to keep evidence away from the jury, since it usually bolsters the prosecution's case. *[The Guilty Are Being Executed Red herrings from the anti-death-penalty squad]* Robert Pambianco is the Chief Policy Counsel for the Washington Legal Foundation.
	Thursday 10 November 2011 - Executions have been on hold in NC for the past five years and some new information may further complicate the issue. Central Prison in Raleigh is home to North Carolina's 157 death row inmates. Some of them have been there since 1985. Twenty-eight of them, all convicted of first degree murder, are from Eastern Carolina. But with the death penalty on hold the debate rages about what exactly to do with these killers, and what it means for all involved. Tom Bennett is the Executive Director for the NC Victim Assistance Network. He says, "Crime victims are getting yanked around emotionally and it's despicable. It's a terrible thing to do to people." Thomas V. Bennett is the Executive Director of North Carolina Victims Assistance Network. North Carolina Victims Assistance Network is a non-profit 501(c) 3 organization founded in 1986, North Carolina Victims Assistance Network promotes the rights and needs of crime victims by educating North Carolina's citizens and public policy leaders about the devastating impact that crime has on our society. Serving our members as a statewide network, we provide information on over 1,500 victims service and criminal justice agencies, victims assistance programs, and advocacy groups.
	"When the jury has decided that a person is guilty, and the judge has decided that they will have the death penalty, then we need to enforce that and we need to implement it as rapidly as possible," contends Barbara Decker of the Eagle Forum San Diego. [Tuesday 8 November 2011] The state has not executed inmates since a federal judge halted executions after finding fault with procedures six years ago. But Decker suggests the state has already seen a moratorium on the death penalty. "We seem to care far more about killing somebody who has killed somebody else than the family and the victims," she laments. Eagle Forum is a conservative interest group in the United States founded by Phyllis Schlafly in 1972 and is the parent organization that also includes the Eagle Forum Education and Legal Defense Fund and the Eagle Forum PAC. The Eagle Forum has been primarily focused on social issues; it describes itself as pro-family and reports membership of 80,000. Others have described it as socially conservative, and anti feminist. As of October 2011, Phyllis Schlafly continues to be the president of the organization.
	They say he is defying the will of Oregon voters, who reinstated the death penalty in 1984. "First of all, it says we don't respect Oregon voters. We don't respect their views when they say they want something," said Steve Doell, president of Crime Victims United. "If we don't like it, we're not going to do it." [Saturday 26 November 2011] By granting a temporary reprieve for Haugen, and by placing a temporary moratorium on all executions, lasting for the remainder of his term, Kitzhaber is failing to uphold the justice system's central pledge to victims, Doell said. "Victims are made a promise in the courtroom, whether it's a sentence of 10 years for a crime or a death sentence," he said. "They're made a promise that the sentence will be carried out. I think to renege on that promise is a travesty. It's a revictimization, and it's wrong." Doell said he concurs with Kitzhaber's assertion that the death penalty system is broken in Oregon. But he calls for fixing the system by streamlining the appeals process for death row inmates. As it stands, appeals can drag out for decades, driving up costs. "We have 37 people who sit on death row in Oregon who are factually guilty, and what keeps them there? These lengthy appeals," he said. "The opponents have built a system that is basically collapsing under its own weight because of the appellate process. "It seems to me that if you've got somebody that is factually guilty, you should be able to execute that person, in all fairness, between four and seven years and be done with it. And that's not to be callous. If that's the law, then we need to carry out the law." Steve Doell is the current President of Crime Victims United of Oregon. He joined the organization in 1993 after witnessing how the criminal justice system dealt with the violent youth who murdered his 12 year old daughter, Lisa Doell. Crime Victims United was founded in 1983 to advance the rights of crime victims and enhance the safety of all law-abiding Oregonians by addressing problems in Oregon's criminal justice system. Through tireless efforts of many volunteers, most of them victims of violent crime, much progress has been made toward fulfilling our mission.
	“We are happy that Mr. Evangelista is pro-death penalty. We will push for Congress to immediately come up with a bill imposing the death penalty on heinous crimes.” Dante Jimenez was the founding chair man of Filipino organization, Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption.
	Norman Brennan, founder of the Victims of Crime Trust, said that if Huntley won his claim, his victims' families should sue him. Mr Brennan said: "If Huntley had the slightest remorse for the terrible murder of these two girls he would drop the case immediately and get on with serving his sentence, and just be thankful it's not pre-1967 when he may well have been sentenced to the hangman's noose.” Norman Brennan is a former British Transport Police officer and Londoner. In 1994 he founded the Victims of Crime Trust, a leading British support group for victims of serious crime. He has campaigned for jury reform and over the Jamie Bulger murder.
	On Thursday 7 July 2011, Victims’ rights groups are upset about the possibility of changing the sentences of death-row inmates to something they consider lighter. "How do we go to them and say that 'Although you thought you received justice, sorry, we're going to take that away now,” said Dawn Koepke, a lobbyist for Crime Victims United. "It's unfair to victims to retroactively apply such abolishment to victims who believe their offender was justly sentenced to death," said Dawn Sanders-Koepke, a lobbyist for Crime Victims United of California. "We would argue we need to fix the system, not throw it away." She said even the study cited by Hancock included steps that could be taken to make capital punishment more efficient and less costly. [Thursday 25 August 2011] Dawn Koepke is a lobbyist for the Crime Victims United of California. Crime Victims United of California is the only organization of its kind — using education, legislative advocacy and political action to enhance public safety, promote effective crime-reduction measures and strengthen the rights of crime victims. CVU is comprised of two distinct, yet complementary groups — a legislative advocacy arm that works to strengthen victims’ rights laws and a political action committee that lends its endorsement and financial backing to pro-victim candidates. Our supporters include crime victims groups, law enforcement organizations and individuals determined to make a positive difference in California’s criminal justice system.
	"The Nagayama case became the standard -- if you're a minor and kill four people, you could face death, but with fewer victims, you could avoid it," Motomura said. "That is precisely why the perpetrator assumed he would not be put to death, but he is wrong." Hiroshi Motomura is a founding member of the National Association of Crime Victims and Surviving Families in Japan.
	He has just had a run of stickers printed that say- "MAKE NEW ZEALAND A SAFER PLACE KILL VIOLENT PEOPLE! BRING BACK CAPITAL PUNISHMENT". Mr. McPhee is sick and tired of what he calls "lily-livered libertarians" taking over this country and he is prepared to take a more conservative public line on crime and punishment. He says he realizes the contradiction in the statement 'kill violent people", but he believes capital punishment in New Zealand for "serious repeat violent offenders" would be for the wider public good. He would be prepared to take responsibility for another person's death if it made the community a better place. "We shouldn't have to build more prisons. There's something inherently wrong with the way society works at the moment." As mayor he is on the governing body of Victim Support Wairarapa and through this has gained awareness of "how the system works". He considers it grossly unfair that criminals get a "holiday" in prison if they get caught while victims' lives are destroyed. Gary McPhee was the mayor of Carterton, New Zealand until 28 January 2011. Gary McPhee is a man who prefers to do things rather than talk. He is unpretentious and down to earth. A man with exceptional practical and creative skills, Gary McPhee understands the pressures of working for a living and he is good for Carterton. Gary is standing again for the position of Mayor in the October election and that's a good thing as he has more to offer the good people of Carterton.
	Foes argued that postponing executions would be unfair to relatives of murder victims, who already wait an average of 15 years as the condemned seek review of their cases in state and federal courts. "Above all," said Harriet Salarno of Crime Victims United of California, the moratorium "is an insult to the victims who have been tortured to their death and are unable to come here to speak to you today." Saturday 16 July 2011 - Only 13 inmates have been executed since the death penalty was restored in the Golden State in 1978, but supporters of the death penalty say commuting the sentence of 714 condemned inmates to life in prison without parole would be a travesty of justice. They argue that rather than abolish it, fix the capital punishment system so condemned prisoners don't spend as much time on death row and cost taxpayers as much money. "The people that want to abolish it are the ones who would raise the cost," said Harriet Salarno, president of Crime Victims United of California, whose daughter was murdered in 1979 in a case that led to a life sentence for the man convicted. "You're telling me that life without parole is not going to be costly?" “For too long, criminals have been given more 'rights' than victims - putting justice and public safety at risk. As the voice for victims, our goal is to make 'public safety' California's biggest priority." Monday 10 October 2011 - Woodford said costs are an important element of the debate because taxpayer money can be better spent on improving schools and law enforcement investigations. Life sentences without parole, she said, are a safe, cheaper alternative. Death penalty supporters, however, blame opponents for driving up the costs with excessive appeals. "They’re using the excuse that it costs so much," said Harriet Salarno, president of Crime Victims United of California. "They’re the ones that raise the costs," Salarno said California should limit the appeals process. Actually executing people, she said, would be a lot cheaper. To many advocates for victims, the initiatives are an insult. “You can’t take justice away from the victims’ families, not after everything they’ve gone through,” contends Harriet Salarno, the president of Crime Victims United of California, which she founded after her daughter’s murder. “No-parole life sentences will never give them the closure they seek. Sure, the death penalty is costly, but that’s because it’s not executed efficiently. Look at Texas and Virginia. They limit the years of appeals. We should copy them.” Tuesday 24 April 2012 – There were hundreds of photos displayed for all to see and emotional outcries from murder victims’ families gathering from across the state at the Capitol on Tuesday to speak up for those they’ve lost. Supporters of the 23rd annual Victims March stood side by side, many fighting to uphold the death penalty a day after it was announced that California voters will decide its fate in the November election. Tuesday march was part of National Crime Victims’ Rights Week. “What’s wrong with the death penalty is not the budget, it’s not the cost,” said Harriet Salarno, founder of Crime Victims United of California. “That’s all they’re going to do and hammer that. It’s because we’re not implementing it.” Deldelp Medina was one of a group of loved ones of murder victims fighting for alternatives to the death penalty. “We hope that life without parole would be the best thing for us,” she said. But so many others Tuesday disagreed with that alternative. “Look at these people here. Look at the suffering they’ve gone through. Why are you going to do this to them?” Salarno asked. A few hours later, speakers at a Crime Victims United rally on the Capitol's west steps took turns blasting the initiative. "Don't let people tell you life without parole is just as good as the death penalty," said Nina Salarno Ashford, who sits on the board of the non-profit victims advocacy group.