April 12, 2019
Dear <first name>,
Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty has made history.
In January the Senate Courts of Justice Committee passed SB 1137,
a bill to exempt people with severe mental illness (SMI) from the
death penalty, on an 8-6 bipartisan vote.
Weeks later the full Virginia Senate approved this same SMI
exemption bill on an 23-17 bipartisan vote. Four Republicans
joined all nineteen Democrats in supporting this important
criminal justice reform legislation.
This was the first time that_a chamber of the Virginia
legislature approved a measure to limit capital punishment in
any way!
The bill received support from three Senators where VADP Field
Director Dale Brumfield has been organizing grassroots support
over the past 18 months. We are certain this constituent support
for the SMI exemption bill was crucial in getting the affirmative
votes of these two Republican and one Democratic Senators.
It is only because of YOUR financial support that Dale's field
work has been possible.
This Senate vote in support of the SMI exemption bill, while
important, is only the first step for us at VADP.
For years we have targeted 2020 as the time when we would launch a
serious attempt to abolish the death penalty in Virginia once and
for all. The pieces have been slowly falling into place for this
effort to be successful.
Thanks to your faithful support for our work, VADP has built a
strong foundation of across-the-political-spectrum relationships
with Democrats, Republicans, and Libertarians.
A courageous group of murder victim family members are willing to
share their stories of deep loss and their desire to end the
misguided retaliation of capital punishment by the state.
VADP has engaged faith leaders from many different religious
traditions who are willing to assist our work within their own
faith communities.
Recently I had an especially moving meeting with a man wrongfully
convicted of capital murder who served 23 years in prison for a
crime he did not commit. A conservative Republican, he strongly
opposes the death penalty because of his own experience with the
criminal justice system. He pledged to help VADP engage other
Virginia exonerees in our work.
Together, we are now ready and able to support a push for
abolition in the state legislature in 2020.
A recent public opinion poll of North Carolina voters revealed
encouraging trends. Fewer than 10% of any group -- including
Republicans and Trump voters -- consider the death penalty to be
an important election issue. Only 25% of Republicans and 32% of
Trump voters would vote against a candidate of their own party
with a different opinion on the death penalty.
We are seeking the resources to fund a similar public opinion poll
here in Virginia. If the results are similar (and I strongly
suspect they will be), such a poll could help sway legislators who
are on the fence about the death penalty.
In order to accomplish our audacious goal of becoming the first
southern state to abolish the death penalty, we need your
continued support.
Please contribute as much as you can to ensure that VADP has the
resources we need to push hard for an end to capital punishment in
Virginia in 2020.
Your last contribution to VADP was *, given on *. Please consider
increasing this donation by 25%, 50%, or even 100%.
To abolish the death penalty in Virginia, we need your generous
tax-deductible gift returned in the enclosed envelope. (You can
also give with your credit or debit card at our secure web site:
www.vadp.org “Donate”. )
With your continued support, we will become the first southern
state to abolish the death penalty.
Sincerely,
Michael E. Stone
Executive Director
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