A recent CNN perspective examined the views of those they called "the most unlikely opponents of the death penalty, people who lost loved ones to unspeakable violence yet believe executing the killer will do nothing for family members or society." For example, Ross Byrd, the son of James Byrd, Jr., who was dragged to his death behind a truck in Texas by Lawrence Brewer, nevertheless objected to Brewer's execution, saying "You can't fight murder with murder." In Mississippi, the mother and siblings of James Anderson asked for his killer's life to be spared. In a letter to the district attorney, Barbara Anderson Young, Anderson's sister, cited the family's faith as one of the reasons why they opposed capital punishment. And Charisse Coleman, whose brother Russell (both pictured) was shot in a liquor store in Shreveport, Louisiana, pointed to the fallibility of the system: "The criminal justice [system]," she said, "is created by and conducted by humans. As long as we're capable of making mistakes, we shouldn't be deciding who lives and dies." Her views did not stem from sympathy for the defendant: "My opposition to the death penalty has nothing to do with Bobby Lee Hampton," she said. "He's a bad dude. He's never going to be a good dude. If I got a call that said Bobby Lee Hampton dropped dead in his cell last night, I don't think it would create a ripple in my pond. . . [but] I will [not] let Bobby Lee Hampton make me a victim, too, by taking me down that road of bitterness and revenge."
Family members of James Anderson (pictured), who was killed on June 26 in Jackson, Mississippi, are asking the District Attorney not to seek the death penalty for Anderson's killer. Deryl Dedmon, a white teenager, was charged with Anderson's murder after he and other white teens took turns beating him. Dedmon then drove over Anderson with a truck. Barbara Anderson Young, the victim's sister, wrote a letter to the D.A. on behalf of their mother and two brothers, saying that their opposition to the death penalty is "deeply rooted in our religious faith, a faith that was central in James' life as well." The letter continued, "We also oppose the death penalty because it historically has been used in Mississippi and the South primarily against people of color for killing whites. Executing James' killers will not help balance the scales. But sparing them may help to spark a dialogue that one day will lead to the elimination of capital punishment." On September 21, Texas executed Lawrence Brewer, a white supremacist who dragged an African-American man to death in Jasper 13 years ago. Some members of the victim's family also opposed the death penalty.
Desert Storm veteran Cleve Foster (pictured), who faced execution in Texas for the third time this year for a murder nearly a decade ago, was granted another stay by the U.S. Supreme Court on September 20. The Supreme Court stopped Foster's execution twice before in 2011. In January, six hours before his scheduled execution, the Justices granted a reprieve to allow them more time to consider his appeal. In April, the Court again halted his execution when his lawyers sought a rehearing, claiming that Foster was innocent and had ineffective legal assistance at his trial and during the early stages of his appeal. They later lifted the stay. Foster has always maintained that his friend was responsible for the murder. The friend also received the death penalty for the crime but died of cancer before he was executed. 
Linda Geffin (pictured) was one of the Texas prosecutors who won a conviction and death sentence for Duane Buck in 1997. She is now the division chief of the Special Prosecutions Unit in the Office of the Harris County Attorney, and she is urging Gov. Rick Perry and other state officials to stop Buck's September 15 execution because improper race evidence was put before the jury considering his sentence. In a letter to state officials, Geffin said that former Texas Attorney General John Cornyn had previously acknowledged the "improper injection of race in the sentencing hearing in Mr. Buck's case," and that "No individual should be executed without being afforded a fair trial, untainted by considerations of race." On June 9, 2000, Cornyn called for new sentencing trials for the defendents who had been improperly sentenced to death because of the racially biased testimony. Of those seven defendents, Buck is the only one who has not been granted a new sentencing.
The latest edition of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund's "
DPIC has updated its 