SHIRLEY DICKENS

JOURNEY OF HOPE...
from violence to healing™

"For a long time I hadn't made up my mind about the death penalty. Then my son Michael was found beaten to death.  As I grieved for him, it became very clear to me that it is a horrible thing to take a person's life. Now I believe that to cut someone's life off, whether individually or in the name of the state, is a great wrong."

SHIRLEY DICKENS
ANCHORAGE, ALASKA

          PROFILE:

Shirley Dickens lost her son to murder over ten years ago, when he was a young man. His body was found in a local wooded park, and no one was ever arrested for the crime. Shirley explains that after her son's death she "felt a very strong presence that told me not to worry about retribution or justice... to instead put my emotional energy into prevention and let God take care of the rest." As a nurse in a large hospital, Shirley believes in preventive medicine. "I think as a society we have put all our resources and emphasis on the wrong side of crime. We should be doing all we can to have children grow up knowing they're protected, loved, cherished, and wanted. If we did this, we'd have far less crime and far more valuing of each other's lives."

Reprinted with permission from "Not In Our Name: Murder Victims Families Speak Out Against the Death Penalty," a publication of Murder Victims Families For Reconciliation, Barbara Hood & Rachel King, Editors.  MVFR