Statement at Death Penalty Abolition Bill Signing
Ceremony
By Jayne Barnard, VADP Vice-President
March 24, 2021
Thirty years ago, in 1991, the Virginia execution
chamber was moved to this site. One hundred and one
people were put to death in this facility.
Later that same year the founders of what came to be
known as Virginians for Alternatives to the Death
Penalty took the first steps toward ending state-
sponsored killing. Our journey is now over, thanks to
many people who supported us in many ways over these
decades.
I want to acknowledge the essential role of Marie Deans
in founding Virginia’s death penalty abolition movement.
Her work on death row in the “bad old days” resulted in
the exoneration of Earl Washington. Her work to get
attorneys for the men on the row saved lives and helped
to humanize a brutal environment. She was also a key
figure in the creation of our organization.
Virginia’s faith community was the backbone of the early
abolition movement. Religious leaders like Bishop
Walter F. Sullivan, Rev. Fletcher Lowe, and many others
spoke out publicly in opposition to the death penalty and
provided spiritual comfort to those on death row and
their family members. Local religious leaders led
execution vigils at sites across the Commonwealth and
their faith communities provided crucial funding for our
work year after year.
I am glad to see that important allies in the abolition
movement are here today - the Virginia Interfaith Center
for Public Policy, the Virginia Catholic Conference, and
ACLU of Virginia. Together we were able to accomplish
what none of us could do alone.
It would have been impossible to discuss the possibility
of death penalty abolition if it were not for the
extraordinary work of capital defense attorneys. Since
the General Assembly created regional Capital
Representational Centers in 2002, a group of
outstanding attorneys, mitigation specialists, and
investigators have provided stellar legal representation
to indigent defendants. People like David Bruck, Jerry
Zerkin, Rob Lee, and many others represented indigent
people accused of capital murder for decades.
These women and men were responsible for a 90%
decrease in death sentences over the ensuing years.
And no one in Virginia has been sentenced to death in
the past ten years!
Another key group of advocates for death penalty
abolition has been murder victim family members like
Rachel Sutphin and Linell Patterson. These courageous
women and men have shared their intensely personal
stories of lost loved ones in order to educate the public
and legislators that our death penalty system fails
victims’ families.
Many became opponents of the death penalty because of
their negative and traumatic experiences with a criminal
justice system more interested in retribution than
meeting their practical needs.
Powerful floor testimony by legislators who lost loved
ones to homicide helped secure the final victory. All
seven of the murder victim family members who serve in
the General Assembly voted to end capital punishment.
Criminal justice funding for expensive capital murder
trials can now be better spent on much needed and
currently underfunded support programs that help
victims’ families with funeral costs, counseling, and
other services.
Finally, we are grateful for our legislative patrons - Del.
Mike Mullin and Sen. Scott Surovell - who shepherded
abolition bills through the long legislative process. And
we are immensely grateful to Governor Ralph Northam
who supported abolition in his State of the
Commonwealth address and worked to ensure its
enactment into law.
This is an historic day for Virginia. Today we become
the first Southern state to end capital punishment. We
will certainly not be the last to do so.
