Since the day the governor signed the bill to repeal the death penalty here in Connecticut, I’ve been thinking about what to do about this blog.

On the one hand, it seemed silly to have a blog about murder victim family members talking about their opposition to the death penalty in Connecticut, when Connecticut has repealed the death penalty. But, it seems as though repealing the death penalty is just the beginning for some of us. Many of the concerns we’ve shared as victims remain entrenched in the criminal justice system, and in our society .

As victim’s family members we sought justice and fairness. We sought a system that valued justice and fairness and that treated all of us with compassion, decency, and humanity. We wanted justice to be blind to gender, religion, race, color and economic status. We wanted the focus of our state budget for the criminal justice system to shift so that the victims had more—more support, more services, and more help.

I know that I was elated as I watched the governor sign the repeal bill on April 25, 2012. I will never forget that experience and the pride I felt as a citizen of Connecticut.

But there is still much to be done to improve the current system, especially for victims and their families. We have made an outstanding, excellent beginning with our repeal work, but for many of us, it’s just one victory in a long line of changes that must be made to make the system do what we believe it should do for victims—to treat them, always, with respect, compassion, and fairness; to do justice; and to make the victims as whole again as is possible.

I will continue this blog. I will continue to welcome postings from victim family members, and others, on the topic of victim rights, victim treatment, or anything else you think is relevant to the purpose of the blog. I would also welcome any suggestions on making the blog relevant and helpful for victims. Finally, I would like to help repeal efforts in other states, and welcome news from those fronts.

Please write if you have any questions, ideas, advice, or other thoughts. I think there is much still to be done for and by victims and victim family members.