
Bob was an active guy who enjoyed the outdoors. His love for the mountains of the West Coast grew in California. I have many fond memories of his athletic antics jumping off ropes into the lake, water skiing, and generally being quicker than everybody in the neighborhood, no matter what he did. His ashes are scattered in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, where he loved to ski and hike.
Bob’s murder was over 10 years ago, and my family still waits for his killer to be identified, charged, prosecuted, or punished. Billions of dollars are wasted prosecuting capital cases while cold cases go unfunded and victims’ services are cut. I support life without parole as an alternative to the death penalty because it is justice that works for everyone.
There is an excellent model of a trauma center for crime victims that has been established in San Francisco. There have been attempts to replicate this trauma service, which provides immediate crisis counseling and services to victims and survivors of crime. But as of yet, we still seem to prefer to waste money on the death penalty rather than spend money on healing. Replacing the death penalty with life without the possibility of parole is the alternative that makes sense for public safety, for victims, and for survivors.