In Booth v. Maryland 482 U.S. 496, 96 L. Ed. 2d 440, 107 S. Ct. 2529 (1987) the United States Supreme Court found that the introduction of a "victim impact statement" in the sentencing phase of a capital murder trial violated the Eighth Amendment. Booth, 482 U.S. at 509. The Supreme Court found two types of information in the statement to be objectionable: (1) "a description of the emotional trauma suffered by the family and the personal characteristics of the victims"; (2) "the family members' opinions and characterizations of the crimes." Payne v. Tennessee, 501 U.S. 808, 115 L. Ed. ruled Booth's holding regarding the first category but expressly declined to consider the second category (family members' "opinions about the crime, the defendant, and the appropriate sentence") because it was not an issue in the case. 501 U.S. at 830 & 830 n.2. Although Booth's latter holding remains binding precedent, the present case is distinguishable in two important respects. First, Booth was a death penalty case, and the Supreme Court expressly predicated its holding on the special gravity of the death penalty situation: "We note however, that our decision today is guided by the fact death is a 'punishment different from all other sanctions.... We imply no opinion as to the use of these statements in noncapital cases.'" Booth, 482 U.S. at 509 n.12. 2d 720, 111 S. Ct. 2597 (1991) the Supreme Court over