Victims’ families are not served by these federal executions. They’re told to just wait a few decades and then they’ll finally get “justice.” The truth, as explained by many families, is that an execution changes almost nothing. It actually devalues the life of their loved one.

We’re told that an execution makes a victim’s family whole again, but what does that really mean? The idea is that the death of the perpetrator will somehow make up for the death of the victim. This is, of course, totally false. Each life is unique and cannot be replaced.

When a victim’s family returns home after an execution, there’s still an empty chair at the table where their murdered loved one used to sit. The death penalty’s hollow promises cannot change that reality. In many cases, an execution makes things worse by reopening old traumas.

We should offer victims’ families real support, not decades-delayed, legally dubious executions. The federal government has used up millions of taxpayer dollars for these unnecessary executions. That money should have been used to help victims’ families instead.