"Particularly disturbing are stories that involve the sentencing to death of retarded convicts and juvenilesThe testimony of families of murder victims is key to anti-death penalty campaigners, and these moving accounts might touch readers who are wavering on the issue." -Publishers Weekly

"Rachel King offers us the stories of families who understand the powerful reality that taking another life in the name of justice only perpetuates the tragedy. I encourage others to read these stories to better understand their journey from despair and anger to some level of peace and even forgiveness."-Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ, author of Dead Man Walking

"Don't Kill in Our Names is a compelling presentation of a relatively unknown truth: some murder victims' families oppose capital punishment because they believe it simply continues the cycle of killing. These important voices contribute to our nation's renewed, growing debate on the death penalty."-U.S. Senator Russell D. Feingold

"Rachel King's book is a powerful statement against the death penalty by those with the most compelling reasons to be for it. Anyone who thinks the death penalty is justified because of the victims should read this book."-U.S. Congressman Robert C. "Bobby" Scott

"Too often, family members who oppose the death penalty are silenced, marginalized, and abandoned, even by the people who are theoretically charged with helping them. Don't Kill in Our Names gives voice to murder victims' family members who are not seeking the 'execution solution' to heal their pain. I highly recommend it, especially for those who care about victims' rights."-Robert "Renny" Cushing, Executive Director, Murder Victims' Families for Reconciliation

"This book took me on an emotional journey through the lives of people who not only forgave those who murdered their loved ones, but who came to know them as human beings, in many cases through working to save them from the death penalty. Anyone who cares-or thinks he/she cares-about justice should read this book."-Raymond Michalowski, professor of criminal justice, Northern Arizona University

Families of murder victims are often ardent and very public supporters of the death penalty. But the people whose stories appear in this book have chosen instead to forgive their loved ones' murderers, and many have developed personal relationships with the killers and have even worked to save their lives. They have formed a nationwide group, Murder Victims' Families for Reconciliation (MVFR), to oppose the death penalty.

MVFR members are often treated as either saints or lunatics, but the truth is that they are neither. They are ordinary people who have responded to an extraordinary and devastating tragedy with courage and faith, choosing reconciliation over retribution, healing over hatred. Believing that the death penalty is a form of social violence that only repeats and perpetuates the violence that claimed their loved ones' lives, they hold out the hope of redemption even for those who have committed the most hideous crimes.

Weaving third-person narrative with wrenching first-hand accounts, King presents the stories of ten MVFR members. Each is a heartrending tale of grief, soul searching, and of the challenge to choose forgiveness instead of revenge. These stories, which King sets in the context of the national discussion over the death penalty debate and restorative versus retributive justice, will appeal not only to those who oppose the death penalty, but also to those who strive to understand how people can forgive the seemingly unforgivable.

Rachel King is a legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union's Washington national office where she lobbies on crime policy. She is currently working on a book about the families of death row inmates.