In the Shadow of Death: Restorative Justice and Death Row Families

The press called Martin's actions a "crime spree." Terrified that his son would be sentenced to die, Martin's father Phillip committed suicide; ironically, the jury, moved by this desperate act, spared Martin's life. Phillip's story, like those of the other parents, siblings, children, and cousins chronicled here, vividly illustrates the precarious position occupied by capital offenders' families. Living in the shadow of death, they are crushed by trauma, grief, and helplessness. In this penetrating account of guilt and innocence, shame and triumph, devastating loss and ultimate redemption, their voices add a new dimension to the debate about capital punishment.

These narratives are woven together by restorative justice theory, which holds offenders accountable while searching for ways to mend the communities and lives torn apart by their crimes and integrating offenders' families into the process of promoting justice and healing. What emerges from myriad in-depth interviews with offenders' and victims' families, legal teams, and leaders in the abolition and restorative justice movements is a vision of justice rooted in the social fabric of communities, showing that forgiveness and recovery are possible even after terrible crimes. While holding victims' stories sacred, this eye-opening book bridges the pain of living in the shadow of death with the possibility of a reparative form of justice. Anyone working with victims, offenders, and their families - from lawyers and social workers to mediators and activists - will find it indispensable to their efforts.

Elizabeth Beck, Ph.D., is Associate Professor in the School of Social Work at Georgia State University. Her work has been in the areas of community practice and forensic social work and is currently examining restorative justice in a community context. She has consulted on numerous capital cases and has been asked to serve as an expert in state and federal cases, and conducts trainings for capital defense lawyers in several states, at the national level, and for the federal system. She is presently on the board of the Alternative Sentencing and Mitigation Institute, Inc.

Sarah Britto, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor in the Department of Law and Justice at Central Washington University. Her primary research areas are crime and the media, violent crime, and restorative justice. She has focused on media stereotypes and how media consumption influences fear of crime, punitive attitudes, attitudes toward the police, and public policy. She sees restorative justice as a way to understand and address both the problems that lead to crime and the consequences of crime.

Arlene Bowers Andrews, Ph.D., is Professor in the College of Social Work and Director of the Institute for Families in Society at the University of South Carolina. She is particularly interested in how families adapt to chronic turbulence in their lives. Her work has emphasized development and evaluation of community systems of care and state policy development for children's mental health. She has served as an expert witness regarding mitigation in state and federal courts.