Hi, my name is Miriam Hans. I'm a post to the death penalty and I'm going to speak to you a little bit about why today.
My dad Cecil Bird was murdered in the year 2000 in an armed robbery in his home.
My dad was a missionary in Africa for 30 years.
And by all accounts, by those who knew him and loved him, he was a friendly man that would give you the shirt off his back.
He was dedicated to his work. He had so many friends. Wherever he went, he just brought so much fun, so much joy, so much to lives of other people.
In the year 2000, some people broke into his house and during an armed robbery, they shot him several times killing him.
I was 25 when I got that news and it was absolutely devastating. I had a lot of anger. I had a lot of anger at the people that had killed him.
I had a lot of anger that he could spend his life doing the work that he did and then be killed in that country.
So there was a lot for me to work through. I went through an incredible amount of grief, but I also had to come to a place where the anger at the individuals that killed him would not overtake my life and overtake my heart, overtake my mind.
So with my mother's example, who forgave the killers of my dad, I began to work on doing the same thing.
Forgiveness wasn't by any means a way to condone or to lessen what they did. It was a way to release myself from any shackles that they might have on me.
When I eventually chose to forgive, it overrided the need for revenge or even the knowledge of what would happen to my dad's killers.
I don't need to know. It won't do anything for him. It won't do anything for me. The act has been done.
And in order for us to break the cycle of revenge and of the need to see inhumane practices done in order to call it justice, I think that we need to approach violent offenders from a different angle.
I think that we have a very viable solution in front of us with offenders in our society that commit even the most heinous acts.
I believe that life without the possibility of parole will enable our society to be protected.
It also offers the possibility for an offender to come to a place in his life where he can make amends with what he has done, whether if it's by a form of restitution, whether it's by a personal belief or faith in God.
Whether he is able to show his remorse in simple, small ways with the people that he is surrounded by in prison, it shows value to human beings.
And we are devaluing, dehumanizing life and human beings when we choose as a state or as a government to put them to death for acts that they have committed.
Because I oppose the death penalty, I have spoken to my state representatives. I've let them hear my voice, I've let them hear my reasons. I would urge you to do the same.
We need to ask our state representatives to work on abolishing the death penalty in the state of Kentucky.
Hi, my name is Miriam Hans. I'm a post to the death penalty and I'm going to speak to you a little bit about why today.
My dad Cecil Bird was murdered in the year 2000 in an armed robbery in his home.
My dad was a missionary in Africa for 30 years.
And by all accounts, by those who knew him and loved him, he was a friendly man that would give you the shirt off his back.
He was dedicated to his work. He had so many friends. Wherever he went, he just brought so much fun, so much joy, so much to lives of other people.
In the year 2000, some people broke into his house and during an armed robbery, they shot him several times killing him.
I was 25 when I got that news and it was absolutely devastating. I had a lot of anger. I had a lot of anger at the people that had killed him.
I had a lot of anger that he could spend his life doing the work that he did and then be killed in that country.
So there was a lot for me to work through. I went through an incredible amount of grief, but I also had to come to a place where the anger at the individuals that killed him would not overtake my life and overtake my heart, overtake my mind.
So with my mother's example, who forgave the killers of my dad, I began to work on doing the same thing.
Forgiveness wasn't by any means a way to condone or to lessen what they did. It was a way to release myself from any shackles that they might have on me.
When I eventually chose to forgive, it overrided the need for revenge or even the knowledge of what would happen to my dad's killers.
I don't need to know. It won't do anything for him. It won't do anything for me. The act has been done.
And in order for us to break the cycle of revenge and of the need to see inhumane practices done in order to call it justice, I think that we need to approach violent offenders from a different angle.
I think that we have a very viable solution in front of us with offenders in our society that commit even the most heinous acts.
I believe that life without the possibility of parole will enable our society to be protected.
It also offers the possibility for an offender to come to a place in his life where he can make amends with what he has done, whether if it's by a form of restitution, whether it's by a personal belief or faith in God.
Whether he is able to show his remorse in simple, small ways with the people that he is surrounded by in prison, it shows value to human beings.
And we are devaluing, dehumanizing life and human beings when we choose as a state or as a government to put them to death for acts that they have committed.
Because I oppose the death penalty, I have spoken to my state representatives. I've let them hear my voice, I've let them hear my reasons. I would urge you to do the same.
We need to ask our state representatives to work on abolishing the death penalty in the state of Kentucky.
