Letters of support or thanks from victims' family members for the work we are doing to protect victims from traumatization

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A letter from a victim's mother in Rockford who worked to help this effort:

 

Jennifer,
[Now that we have gotten agreement that retroactive sentence reduction out of the HJR 80 study, this is. . .] the time to let the reality sink in [for the prisoners' friends and families] and then attempt [later] to share your generous idea of assisting [with other areas of HJR 80 such as humanitarian prison reform]. . . remembering that [we] did not create this problem nor ask for your sister to be murdered  - that choice was made by another. [We] cannot carry the burden of the inmates guilt or their family's guilt and must not allow them to place that on your shoulders. What we would all give to go back in time and not have had these horrible crimes committed!

The relief I feel [that my son's killer will not be paroled] is enormous, I have not felt this passionate about anything since my feelings that justice would be served for [my son] or I would die trying. As we went through the trial process I was determined and out spoken about our rights as [his] family, doing everything possible to ensure that justice was served. I felt as though we had to claw our way through the heavy weight of the defendant's rights as they tried every dirty trick imaginable to tarnish the reputation of a fine young man and some how justify the brutal murder that [the offender] committed against [my son]. As they searched the community trying to find some small piece of flaw in his character or some element of brutality in his persona they found that every life he touched came away with something positive, that did not have an enemy in the world. As evil as their tricks were we knew that we had righteousness and truth on our side and in the end justice was served.
I felt the same way about this, we were doing the right thing . . .

This victory is a gift honoring all of our family members as we continue to fight for them even after they are ripped from us.
 

Although this is not a role I ever envisioned myself in, this seems to be the road the Lord has shown me.
 

You can count on me to assist you in any way I can in speaking out for the rights of victims.
 

I feel very blessed to have met you and Bill and look forward to continuing our friendship, you both are remarkable people.
Peace,
G

Jennifer, you and Bill may also want to recommend to every victim and/or
their family that you meet that they register with the Prisoner Review
Board for victim notification. Parties interested in the older cases
with indeterminate sentencing will receive notification of upcoming
parole hearings where they can voice, by letter or in person, their
opinions on any early release. PRB also makes the necessary arrangements
if they are interested in appearing in person.

If they are involved in the newer cases, they should also register to
receive notification of any release or death of the inmate and
information on responding if they seek clemency. Victims/families can
also request certain conditions upon the release of the inmates. Linda
Badger, Chuck Equez and all the other members of the Victim Services
Unit have been very helpful to us.  

PRB website is www.state.il.us/prb then choose victim services. Maybe
you could put information and a link on Illinois Victims. You may also
want to talk with Linda Badger
(217)782-7273.