Carol Byars

"It  is  past time for being  silent about the death  penalty.    In  Texas,  we're executing record numbers each year. Things have gotten so bad because people have all been silent and let things get bad. We are told so many times that we are not supposed to forgive—that when people do horrible things to us we should do something just as bad in retribution. Those of us who know better—those of us who know the power of forgiveness—need to speak up. Every chance we get, we need to challenge the mentality that compassion is a weakness. Compassion is the toughest thing of all, but it's the only thing that works to restore peace in our lives."

Carol Byars' husband, James Hapney, was shot in 1977 by his mother's next-door neighbor during an altercation. He died from his wounds eight months later. Carol's mother-in-law immediately urged family members to get guns and retaliate, but Carol knew even then that she wanted nothing to do with vengeance. "There had been enough bloodshed," she says.

In court, Carol observed the man who was ultimately convicted of the crime and sentenced to life In prison. "I remember thinking he had the face of a baby," she recalls, "and I remember thinking about how he had a mama, and a young wife, and babies of his own. I couldn't imagine his mother watching her child being put to death, or his children watching their father being put to death. I never wanted that."

Years later, Carol tried to make contact with the man who had killed her husband. "I went to find him to tell him I had forgiven him," she says, "and I found out he had just died.  I'm sorry I never had a chance to tell him."