“I know that I want to help others who have gone through this.  I know that we are stronger if we join together. I know that ending our silence and moving away from our shame will help us heal ourselves and help us bring about a better world. "

No Silence, No Shame

No Silence, No Shame” is a new project of Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights that focuses on organizing family members of the executed to speak out against the death penalty. 

 On October 27^th, a group of parents, children, siblings, nieces, and grandchildren of people who have been executed in the United States gathered in Austin, Texas for a private support meeting, then an organizing meeting to talk about upcoming plans for the project, and finally a public ceremony that marked the official launch of the project.  Survivors came from Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Rhode Island, California, Massachusetts, Texas, Virginia, and Alberta, Canada. 

   Read statements that Robert Meeropol, Bill Babbitt, and Celia McWee delivered at the public ceremony. 

   See photos from the ceremony here. 

   Read an editorial that was published in the Austin American-Statesman titled “The Families Left Behind.” 

Why this project?

 Family members of the executed are the death penalty’s invisible victims.  Although the death certificate of an executed individual lists the cause of death as “homicide,” few individuals or support organizations recognize family members of the executed as grieving survivors in need of assistance.  Few think about the effects of executions on the families left behind.  After an execution, surviving family members often feel isolated, and keep silent about their experiences because of the shame they feel and the pain they have experienced throughout the capital punishment process.  The "No Silence, No Shame" project helps family members of the executed join together to end their sense of shame and break their silence to become a powerful voice against the death penalty.