18/2021 Prince William commonwealth's attorney joins call to abolish the death penalty in Virginia | News | princewilliamtimes.com
Prince William commonwealth’s attorney joins call to abolish the
death penalty in Virginia
By Daniel Berti Times Staff Writer Jan 4, 2021
Commonwealth's Attorney Amy Ashworth talks with a voter outside the McCoart building polling place on Election Day Nov.
5, 2019. (file photo)
Delia Engstrom
Prince William County was once ranked second in the country for sending people to death row. Now,
the county’s Commonwealth's Attorney Amy Ashworth and 11 other Virginia commonwealth’s attorneys
are calling for an end to the death penalty in Virginia.
The Virginia Progressive Prosecutors for Justice, a group of commonwealth’s attorneys who advocate
for criminal justice reforms, published a letter to General Assembly leaders on Monday outlining the
reforms they're supporting for in the upcoming legislative session, which begins on Jan. 13.
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18/2021 Prince William commonwealth's attorney joins call to abolish the death penalty in Virginia | News | princewilliamtimes.com
VIRGINIA PROGRESSIVE PROSECUTORS FOR JUSTICE
COMMONWEALTH'S ATTORNEYS
HON, Amy ASHWORTH HON. JAMES M. HINGELEY
PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY AND CITy OF MANASSAS ALBEMARLE COUNTY
HON, ANTON BELL HON. STEPHANIE N. MORALES
CITY OF HAMPTON CITY oF PorTSMOUTH
HON, BUTA BIBERAJ HON. JOSEPH D. PLATANIA
LOUDOUN COUNTY CITY OF CHARLOTTESVILLE
HON. PARISA DEHGHANFTAFTI HON. BRYAN PORTER
ARLINGTON COUNTY AND CITY OF FALLS CHURCH CITY OF ALEXANDRIA
HON, STEVE DESCANO HON. SHANNON L. TAYLOR
FAIRFAX COUNTY AND CITY OF FAIRFAX HENRICO COUNTY
HON, HOWARD GWYNN HON. GREGORY D. UNDERWOOD
Cry oF NewPorT NEWS CITY OF NORFOLK
January 4, 2021
Contact: Ben Shnider, Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Public Information
Officer, (571) 460-6711
VIRGINIA PROGRESSIVE PROSECUTORS CALL FOR
CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORMS IN COMING LEGISLATIVE
SESSION
Reforms advocated for by the group include expungement of criminal
records, an end to mandatory minimum sentences, an end to cash bail,
abolition of the death penalty, and an end to “three strikes” felony
enhancement for larceny offenses.
Virginia Progressive Prosecutors for Justice (VPPFJ) is a group of Commonwealth's
Attorneys representing over 40% of Virginia’s population who support and advocate for
commonsense criminal justice reforms to make their communities safer and the
commonwealth’s justice system more fair and equitable. Today they issued the
following letter to leaders in the General Assembly regarding reforms they plan to
advocate for in the coming legislative session.
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41/8/2021 Prince William commonwealth's attorney joins call to abolish the death penalty in Virginia | News | princewilliamtimes.com
“The death penalty is unjust, racially biased, and ineffective at deterring crime,” the letter said. “We
have more equitable and effective means of keeping our communities safe and addressing society's
most heinous crimes. It is past time for Virginia to end this antiquated practice.”
The group includes the commonwealth’s attorneys from the counties of Prince William, Loudoun,
Fairfax, Arlington, Henrico and Albemarle, and the cities of Alexandria, Charlottesville, Norfolk,
Hampton, Portsmouth and Newport News. Together, the group says they represent about 40% of
Virginia’s 8.5 million residents.
In addition to abolishing the death penalty, the group is also advocating to end cash bail, mandatory
sentences and the “three strikes” felony enhancement for larceny offenses. They’re also calling for the
automatic expungement of criminal records once offenders have completed their sentences.
Ashworth, who was elected commonwealth’s attorney in 2019, has been vocal about her opposition to
the death penalty. She said in an email Monday, that while it is legal in Virginia, she remains “morally
opposed to it.”
“It is clear to me that this policy, like many policies involving criminal justice, disproportionately affects
low-income individuals and people of color. Furthermore, repeated studies have shown it does not
deter future criminal activity, which is a frequently cited justification,” Ashworth said.
More than 1,500 people have been executed in the United States since 1976. Virginia ranks second in
the nation for executions with 113 executions, behind only Texas. There are currently two people on
death row in Virginia.
Americans account for 34% of all executions while making up only 13% of the country’s population,
according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Ashworth noted that “the government sanctioned killing of a person who no longer poses an imminent
threat to anyone” is also a costly process that could be better spent on crime prevention and
deterrence. The state currently operates four capital defender offices that represent poor people
charged with capital murder and facing the death penalty.
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“The prosecution of these cases costs taxpayers hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars, money
that | suggest would be better spent on more effective strategies for preventing and deterring crime,
which | wholeheartedly support,” Ashworth said.
Prince William County was once notorious for its frequent use of the death penalty. Former county
commonwealth’s attorney Paul Ebert, who served from 1968 until 2019, sent more killers to death row
than any other prosecutor in Virginia.
In 2013, the county was ranked in the top 2% of jurisdictions responsible for most of the executions
that have taken place in the United States since 1976.
Del. Lee Carter, D-50'", and state Sen. Scott Surovell, D-36", both of whom represent parts of the
Prince William County, introduced bills in the 2020 General Assembly session to ban the death penalty
in Virginia. But both bills were killed.
Carter, who is running for Virginia governor and for re-election in the 50" district, has re-introduced his
bill ahead of the 2021 meeting of the General Assembly.
Reach Daniel Berti at dberti@fauquier.com
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