VADP Awards Luncheon Speakers Focus
On Virginia Death Penalty Repeal in 2021
By Paul O’Shea
For the first time in Virginia history, capital punishment
may finally be abolished and become a grim and tragic
legacy_of our past. That was the theme of the recent annual
awards luncheon of Virginians for Alternatives to the Death
Penalty.
Currently, with a Democratically-controlled General
| Assembly and; growing support from Conservatives and
Libertarians, death penalty abolition legislation could be
placed on Governor Ralph Northam’s desk for his signature
| in the coming year. Thise window of opportunity may only
be open in 2021, however. With a new governor to succeed
a term-limited Northam in 2022, and another legislative
election, the positive alignment favoring abolition is-
uncertainmay only be temporary.
Recently, Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
held its annual awards luncheon virtually. Honored as
| Legislator of the year was Senator William M. Stanley, Jr.
(R-Moneta), who will be a co-patron of death penalty repeal
legislation to be introduced in the 2021 General Assembly.
Earlier this year Stanley’s powerful speech on the Senate
floor helped change fellow Republican votes on a bill that
would have prevented the execution of those suffering from
severe mental illness. The bill passed with overwhelming
bipartisan support, but was not taken up in the House of
Delegatesether-bedy.
The VADP luncheon keynote speaker was Cassandra
Stubbs, Director of the ACLU’s Capital Punishment Project.
At the event Stubbs recounted the significant progress the
national movement has made toward abolition. Of the four
benchmarks the Supreme Court has said could result in
countrywide abolition, substantial progress has been made
in reducing the number of executions and death sentences,
while 25 states now prohibit the punishment. Ten states
have ended capital punishment in the past thirteen years. In
addition, she pointed out, popular support for capital
punishment is declining steadily.
Also honored was Rachel Sutphin, VADP’s Citizen Advocate
of the Year. When she was nine years old in 2009, her
father, Corporal Eric Sutphin of the Montgomery County’s
Sheriff's Office, was shot and killed in Blacksburg by
William Morva. As a murder victim family member Rachel
might have been expected to support Morva’s execution.
Ultimately, however she fought to prevent his killing, and
pleaded with then-Governor Terry McAuliffe to spare
Morva’s life. McAuliffe never responded to her plea to
reduce the sentence to life in prison without parole and
Morva was executed in 2017.
Sutphin, a divinity student at TK, continues to advocate for
the end to capital punishment.
Paul O’Shea is a director of Virginians for Alternatives to
the Death Penalty.
