VIRGINIANS FOR
f ALTERNATIVES
TO THE DEATH PENALTY
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.
Iam 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.
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