Virginia Information: Death Penalty, TFADP

Task Force to
Abolish the Death Penalty

Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington, VA

	Virginia and the Death Penalty: Virginia ranks second in the nation in the number of people it has executed since the death penalty was reinstated by a Supreme Court decision. Between 1976 and 2004, 94 individuals were executed in Virginia. On a per capita basis, Virginia has the 4th highest execution rate of states that permit executions. In Virginia, juveniles as young as 16 at the time of the offense can be tried on a capital offense and sentenced to death. Only five other nations are known to have executed juveniles in the last decade: Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Virginia puts severe limits on consideration of evidence other than biological evidence discovered after the first conviction (the "21-Day Rule"). TFADP works closely with the Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (VADP) to seek changes in Virginia laws with the goal of bringing about a moratorium and the ultimate end of executions in our state. For more information, consult this 2003 report from the ACLU of Virginia, which describes how the administration of the death penalty in Virginia suffers from fundamental and systemic failings -- Broken Justice: the Death Penalty in Virginia.
Death Penalty Facts: FACT 1: Murder rates are lower in states that have abolished the death penalty. FACT 2: Innocent people are executed. FACT 3: In the long run, the death penalty does nothing for victims' families. FACT 4: The death penalty is arbitrary and racist. FACT 5: The death penalty costs more than life imprisonment. FACT 6: Every western democracy except the US has abolished the death penalty. FACT 7: Using the death penalty prevents society from finding effective ways of reducing crime. FACT 8: Public opinion supports alternatives to the death penalty. [source: web site of the Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty]
"Evidence of innocence is irrelevant." - Virginia Attorney General Mary Sue Terry, speaking in reference to a death row inmate's attempt to appeal based on new evidence
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