Paul,

I currently work at a prison daily, and interact with offenders. I work with the C.O.s, Warden, and Dep. Wardens regularly.  I don't work for the prison but a large part of my job takes place there.

I have never witnessed an execution live. Have witnessed home videos of every type of execution and spoken to witnesses of executions (not the edited ones on tv or cheesy video). I have toured prisons and spoken to inmates. I have also met many interesting victims and sat in on victim impact panel sessions. I am currently reading a book written by death row inmates. I try to get every perspective. I am not an expert by any stretch but do work in the field and feel I have an educated opinion.

It is further my opinion that you don't have to be a victim to be impacted by such things as the death penalty. The effects of an offense go well beyond the direct victim themselves and affect many lives. A Current example would be that of the sniper. How about the helplessness the officials feel as they realize that this killer has the ability to strike at any time and until they get that break (maybe last night) there is absolutely nothing that they can do about it. Are they indirect or secondary victims in the case? Absolutely. Where do you draw the line as to who is a victim and who is not, it is purely a perspective thing.

Later-

Jason