MVFR members have lost family members to murder or execution and oppose the death penalty. Friends of MVFR support these members and help bring their stories to the public, the press and policy makers.
We oppose the death penalty for a variety of reasons — endless trials re-open emotional wounds and put off the time when real healing can begin, the vast resources and attention spent on the death penalty is better spent supporting victims and preventing crime in the first place, the risk of executing the innocent is too high a price to pay, biases of geography, race and class plague the system, executions create more families who have lost a loved one to killing, and many of us think it is just plain wrong for the state to kill.
Pat Clark, Board Chair
Latest News
MVFR Family Member, Eddie Hicks, Featured on CBS Nightly News
December 16, 2007
Eddie Hicks, whose daughter Jamila was murdered in 2000, was featured on CBS Evening News to discuss his work with New Jersey legislatures to pass the historic bill to abolish the death penalty. Learn more about Hicks and New Jersey's decision here.
MVFR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FEATURED ON NPR'S DEMOCRACY NOW
December 14, 2007
Lorry Post, Executive Director of MVFR and Founder of New Jerseyans Against the Death Penalty was featured on National Public Radio's Democracy Now! in response to New Jersey Lawmakers historic vote to ban the death penalty. Listen to Post here.
NJ LAWMAKERS VOTE TO BAN DEATH PENALTY
December 13, 2007
(Trenton, NJ)
The New Jersey Assembly approved legislation Thursday to abolish the state's death penalty, making Gov. Jon S. Corzine's signature as the only step left before the state becomes the first in four decades to ban executions.
Lawmakers voted 44-36 to replace the death sentence with life in prison without parole. Corzine, a Democrat, has said he will sign the bill within a week.
MVFR AWARDED Z. SMITH REYNOLDS FOUNDATION GRANT TO HIRE NORTH CAROLINA FAMILY MEMBER COORDINATOR
November 28, 2007
(Washington, DC) Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation has awarded MVFR a grant to hire a Family Member Coordinator for North Carolina. An active search for a Coordinator has begun.
MVFR NAMES LORRY POST EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
November 21, 2007
(Washington, DC) Murder Victims’ Families for Reconciliation (MVFR) today announced the hiring of Lorry Post as Executive Director.
Post is a founder of New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (NJADP), the organization leading the current effort to replace the death penalty in New Jersey with life without parole. He was NJADP’s first director and currently serves as a field organizer and a member of the organization’s Executive Committee. Post spent a number of years as a defense attorney, Legal Aid lawyer and legal advisor for non-profit organizations. Post also lost his daughter to homicide. Learn more about Posts' hiring.
HEALING CIRCLES: RESTORATIVE JUSTICE AND GRIEF CONFERENCE
The Capital Restorative Justice Project, Project Compassion, and the Religious Coalition for a Nonviolent Durham present:
HEALING CIRCLES: RESTORATIVE JUSTICE AND TRAUMATIC GRIEF
Please join the CRJP and our partners, Project Compassion and the Religious Coalition for a Nonviolent Durham, for our fourth annual gathering and dinner.
When: Saturday, December 8, 2007
1:00pm – 6:00pm, registration begins at 12:30pm
Location: Trinity United Methodist Church in downtown Durham 215 N. Church Street, Durham, NC 27701
Cost: Suggested donation for attorneys and other advocates is $20. Family members of death row inmates and murder victims are invited to attend free of charge.
MVFR ORGANIZES IN NORTH CAROLINA
On Saturday, January 27th local MVFR members, members of the MVFR Board of Directors and anti-death penalty leaders gathered to learn more about the historic developments in the state to and find out how MVFR can help North Carolina become the first Southern state to legislatively suspend executions. Learn more about the efforts in North Carolina and how you can help.
NEW JERSEY COMMISSION RECCOMENDS ABOLISHING THE DEATH PENALTY
New Jersey was the first state to legislatively suspend executions and appoint a commission to study capital punishment. By law a member of MVFR sat on the commission. In January the Commission recommended that New Jersey abolish the death penalty. Learn more about the New Jersey effort and how you can help.
CALIFORNIA BECOMES SECOND STATE TO HIRE MURDER VICTIM FAMILY COORDINATOR
With the support of MVFR California became the second statewide campaign to hire someone whose only job is to reach out to murder victim family members and families of the executed. Maria Chavez will work with Death Penalty Focus, the ACLU of Northern California and MVFR to bring these critical voices to the statewide debate around the death penalty. Learn more about the campaign in California and how you can help.
