Victims’ families wrestle with grief as they weigh the death penalty on the ballot

A new measure on the ballot in California this November would allow the state to speed up the process under which the death penalty is carried out for convicted offenders. Nancy Berns, professor of sociology at Drake University, is an expert in what she calls the myth of closure. She says the current process for death row inmates, which can take years because cases become entangled in legal appeals, is unfair to families who are seeking justice. “It is not fair to the victims’ families who can get caught up in this rhetorical debate when we can’t promise them healing because of an execution,” she told the L.A. Times. Read the Times’ full story online.