Victimization is a cornerstone political platform of prosecutors. It is formed by (1) lending victims a shoulder to cry on while (2) misleading victims into believing what the criminal legal system can and should do for them (i.e. give them closure).

Many victims can tell you the criminal legal system is not designed for their healing. And yet the "stakeholders" in the status quo promote voices that say otherwise. Healing is not the purpose of another person's punishment. So many have been harmed by these false promises.

When we regard the pain of others, the desire to help is a basic feature of human decency. But prosecutors act unethically when they fail to be honest about the limitations of their power, and the power of the legal system in which they operate, to heal the anguish of victims.

For victims, there are many possible paths to healing. Many of us may live with unresolvable rage as certain harms cannot be undone.

This does not justify a system of justice that nullifies the possibility of redemption and rehabilitation for those who caused harm to others.