A question about death penalty?

Question

I know this is a very sad,morbid question, but what do you think would be worse and more sad to be the mother of the murder victim or be the mother of the person on death row about to be executed?

Answer 1

I think they would be equally horrible positions to be in. Mothers (well most) give something called unconditional love to their chidlren. I have never been in either situation and hope to never be so I can just guess it would be horrible to be either.

Answer 2

That is morbid, but interesting to think about. Clearly both situations are horrible.

Whereas the parents of the victim are losing a child (the most tragic thing a parent can go through), the parent of the murderer is enduring the same loss, PLUS the knowledge that their child was (probably) responsible for someone else's death, PLUS they will always wonder if some of the blame doesn't lie with them, in how they brought up their child to be a murderer. Either that, or they're convinced (as parents often are) that their child is innocent, and that they are paying the ultimate price for a faulty legal system.

Either way, the chances are that, because of the circumstances, the support network for the parents of the perpetrator wouldn't be nearly as extensive as that for the victim's family (and as other here have said, many people will be downright hostile to the murderer's family).

Wow, what a horrible thing to think about.

Good question, though.

Answer 3

Wow, what a question!
I think the mother of the murderer might have a harder time. The mother of the victim can be angry and get her hurt out in more forcful ways. People will help her through it and grieve over her lost child.
But the murderer would be called a monster, and people will say that person deserves to die, which will tear up the mother even more.
The victim's mother will get the peace of a funeral pretty early on, but inmates linger on death row for years which leaves the murderer's mother in a long and agonizing pre-loss stage of grieving.
And many mothers will always feel guilty for what their kids do, even as adults. By raising that child, a mother feels she somehow failed.
And on top of all of that, the mother of the murderer will empathize with the victim's mother. Women just have a funny way of doing that, allowing each other to feel another's pain in motherhood.

I hope I never find myself in either situation. But I've got three kids, and there will always be things to worry about.....

Answer 4

This is indeed a very sad,morbid question and to be honest I have never really thought if it. For one thing, I have never been through that kind of a horrible tragedy, so it would be very hard for me to really say. I think the pain,sorrow,and grief would be unbelievable for both mothers. The shock,trauma,and heartache of finding out a loved one was murdered must be excrutating,on the other hand, as a parent, especially a mother your first instinct is to want to protect your child, and knowing your child is going to die legally by the state and there is not a thing you can do to stop it must be equally tragic or even worse. And the families of murder victim's generally do seem to get much more sympathy from the public,so I guess in my opinion the mother of the killer is probably the one who suffers the most in the long run.

Answer 5

I think it's much worse to be the mother of a murder victim. At least the mother of death row inmate will have many years to say goodbye to her child, as it takes years for a death sentence to be carried out. But, murder victims parents won't have that luxury. Either way I do think it's would be difficult for a parent to suffer the loss of a child.

Answer 6

The mother of the murdered victim would be worse. At least the other mother will have plenty of time and opportunities to see, visit and speak to her son on death row.

Answer 7

I believe the mother of the murder victim suffers more. In many cases, the murderer is never caught, if caught, he/she gets life and is out in 7 years. Only the most vicious, heinous murderers are sentenced to death. They can appeal on trivialities for decades. The will be executed in a relatively quick and humane way - and please don't try to tell me that taking 20 minutes to get an IV line started constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. My brother's murderer got life without parole but only because he killed his own cousin to prevent the cousin from testifying. He is still in prison in Delaware and has "found Jesus." My brother was 23 and was murdered at work so this guy could steal a tank of gas worth less than $6.00 back then. He was left to bleed to death in a parking lot in the hot sun. After the pervert was convicted, he walked out of the courtroom ans grinned at my mother. His mother could not have felt worse than mine. She still has her son- two other mothers lost theirs for no reason whatsoever.

Answer 8

Being the mother of the murder victim would be worse. The victim is innocent and did not deserve to die. where as the murder acted as judge ,jury and executioner on a person that was never tried for a crime.

Answer 9

I don't know, since I am neither a mother or a parent.... However, to me if the evidence makes sense to me and my child was convicted of the crime and put on death row... yeah I will be a lil sad but it is what it is. My child did something stupid and now he's paying for it. It's called responsaablity.

Answer 10

Probably, the mother of the murderer. She has to prepare for the death of her child(as if that is possible). Additionally she has to live with her childs guilt. The victims mother on the other hand has to always wonder why my child.

Answer 11

Boy that is a tough one.I pray that I am never in the shoes of either mother in a situation like this. I think the pain from both mothers would be equally as bad.