Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
Funding Request
April 25, 2016
Name Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
Address P.O. Box 12222
Richmond, VA 23241
Telephone Number (434) 960-7779
Email Address office@vadp.org
Leadership Michael Stone, Executive Director
Mission statement:
Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (VADP) is a statewide citizens’ organization
dedicated to educating the public about alternatives to the death penalty.
History:
VADP was formed in 1991 to organize opposition to capital punishment. Since then VADP has
built a network of citizens across the Commonwealth to work for abolition of the death penalty.
Legal status:
Originally incorporated as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit, VADP changed its legal status to a 501(c)(3)
organization - receiving its status confirmation letter from the IRS on August 12, 2014.
In addition, VADP is registered with the Virginia Office of Regulatory and Charitable Programs as
required under the Virginia Solicitation of Contributions Law.
Purpose of the requested funds:
VADP is seeking funds for its general operations to educate the public about capital punishment and
to organize citizens to seek an end to the death penalty in Virginia. VADP works very closely with
the Virginia Catholic Conference and the ACLU of Virginia in developing educational resources
and legislative strategy at the General Assembly.
Background information:
Since the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the states to reintroduce capital punishment in 1976, Virginia
has executed 111 people - third most in the nation behind only Texas and Oklahoma. Those
sentenced to death are overwhelming the poor, people of color, and those with mental illness.
Only 35% of the 133 political jurisdictions in the Commonwealth have had someone executed.
Three jurisdictions (Prince William, Chesterfield & Virginia Beach) have 23% of Virginia's
executions. Seven jurisdictions (Prince William, Chesterfield, Virginia Beach, Fairfax, Hampton,
Pittsylvania, & Portsmouth) account for 41% of the state’s executions.
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The death penalty is a failed government program that is prohibitively expensive, random &
discriminatory in its application, and ineffective in deterring violent crime. In addition, the
mandatory appeals in capital cases turn killers into media celebrities and ensure that the family
members of murder victims endure years of glaring media attention while the required appeals wind
their way through state and federal court systems.
Legislative Actions:
In the 2014 session of the Virginia General Assembly, VADP and its allies successfully defeated
legislation that would have made electrocution the default punishment for those sentenced to death.
In the 2015 legislative session, VADP opposed a bill that would have enabled the Department of
Corrections to obtain execution drugs from compounding pharmacy in secrecy. This measure failed
when a bipartisan group of House of Delegate members opposed it.
In the 2016 legislative session, Governor McAuliffe manipulated the legislative process to create a
false choice for legislators: Either approve a policy that you rejected last year or I veto an electric
chair bill, and we have no way to execute the horrible people on death row. This false choice
generated enormous pressure on conservative legislators to vote in favor of execution drug secrecy.
Despite this setback, a core of Republican legislators has joined most Democrats in consistently
voting against every death bill in the past two years. An even larger group of Republican Delegates
and Senators are torn by conscience, and only support such bills under intense political pressure.
Program & strategy:
In addition to its legislative advocacy work, VADP has convened regional gatherings of VADP
supporters during the spring in northern Virginia, Charlottesville, Richmond, Norfolk, and
Roanoke. These regional gatherings take place twice a year - in the spring and fall.
In addition, VADP has been actively reaching out and organizing political conservatives. The
recent abolition of capital punishment in Nebraska with strong Republican support shows how
conservatives are increasingly questioning the effectiveness of the death penalty as a public policy.
VADP is working with the Virginia Catholic Conference, ACLU of Virginia, and the National
Alliance on Mental Illness of Virginia to pass legislation that prohibits the execution of people with
serious mental illness. This is one of many reforms to the state’s capital punishment law
recommended by an A merican Bar Association panel in 2013.
Measurement of success:
Since this is not a social service program with clearly defined metrics, it is more difficult to measure
success. However, VADP does have the goal of introducing death penalty reform proposals each
year of the General Assembly with Republican sponsors.
VADP is meeting conservative leaders in Virginia and collecting their signatures to a statement
challenging capital punishment. VADP anticipates getting a total of 20-25 signatories by early
2017. Once that goal is reached, there will be a press conference announcing the formation of
Virginia Conservatives Concemed A bout the Death Penalty.
Budget:
The VADP 2016 calendar year budget has $100,285 in expenses. Individual donors provide the
majority of funds for our work. However, churches also provide crucial financial support to VADP.
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