A life sentence of a different kind | Forensic Files

people aren't just injured by the initial shock the initial tragedy they are constantly being ret traumatized by
anything that adds to complicates reawakens it's a horrible thing and it's a life sentence in and of itself this
has informed my devotion to working with other victims of a violent crime which has been my advocation since nen
Richard's murder I now work with the National Organization of victims of juvenile murderers a group that I helped
to co-found a support group for victims families like us one of the things that we are trying to get injected into the
conversation is how much support victims still need years later you get to where
the good days can outnumber the bad but A Renewed threat of the offenders release I can't stress enough how
putting us through this again is it's horrible it's torture it's back to not being able to think about normal things
again it's back to not being able to sleep I would like for him to know with every fiber of his being with every cell
in his body what I know with every cell of my body the totality of what he took that
night those lives and all that they could have been and all that they were I have tried very hard to live my life
every ever since and not waste a single minute of it in anything other than love
and building a better better World more loving world and so this does feel like an immense waste of time there are some
offenders that were overs sentenced they need to be resentenced but do you need to go through resentencing hearings on
every single offender when it's already clear that they are not going to be able
to be resentenced I think that's a wasteful retraumatization of victims and a huge waste of tax dollars

Jennifer Bishop-Jenkins, older sister of murder victim Nancy Bishop Langert, describes the continuing pain of losing her sister and how murder victim's families can try to heal -- but never erase their loss.

Brief Summary

Victims of violent crime face ongoing trauma and need more support, especially during resentencing hearings for offenders.

Key points

The Ongoing Trauma of Victims. Victims of violent crime face constant retraumatization long after the initial tragedy.
Advocating for Victims. The speaker co-founded a support group for victims' families to address their ongoing needs.
The Pain of Resentencing. The speaker expresses frustration over the retraumatization caused by resentencing hearings.

Episode highlights

Advocating for VictimsThe speaker co-founded a support group for victims' families to address their ongoing needs.“We are trying to get injected into the conversation how much support victims still need years later.”0:37Dec 2, 2015

Episode quotes

It's a horrible thing and it's a life sentence.

0:13WatchDec 2, 2015

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