Tides Foundation/Death Penalty Mobilization Fund
Fall 2015 Requests for Proposals
Strategy Area 3: Severe Mental Illness Exclusion
Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
July 27, 2015
PROPOSAL NARRATIVE
A. Goal: VADP seeks to move Virginia further toward de facto abolition, as measured by the
three indicators outlined in the national strategy:
*» No executions in the last 10 years (Virginia has 16, but only 1 in the past three years);
+» No more than 15 new death sentences in the last 10 years (Virginia has issued 7 death
sentences in that time, but none in the past three and a half years); and
“+ Fewer than 15 people on death row (Virginia currently has 8 on death row).
By 2020 VADP will develop enough Republican support for a debate at the General Assembly
about death penalty abolition. In the interim Republicans will introduce and debate reform bills
recommended by the 2013 ABA Virginia Death Penalty Assessment Team. This debate in the
next five years will reveal flaws in the capital system and move legislators toward abolition.
B. Program & Activities:
1) Program Description - VADP will work on a legislative campaign that will result in passing
serious mental illness (SMI) exclusion legislation in the 2017 General Assembly session. The
Virginia Catholic Conference, ACLU of Virginia, Amnesty Intemational, NAMI Virginia, and
capital litigators have developed a campaign plan.
VADP and its allies will work on second bill for a pretrial determination of whether a capital
defendant is intellectually disabled, and thus ineligible for the death penalty. Both the SMI
exclusion and pretrial determination of intellectual disability are recommendations made by
the 2013 ABA Virginia Death Penalty Assessment Team.
VADP and its allies will oppose bills to make alternatives like the electric chair, firing squad,
or gas chamber the default method of execution if lethal injection drugs are unavailable. We
will continue to oppose legislation to enable the Department of Correction to exempt the death
penalty process, including the drugs used in an execution, from open government laws.
2) Campaign Strategy & Specific Activities - VADP’s campaign strategy includes four
activities: conservative outreach, grassroots organizing, fundraising, and legislative advocacy.
Conservative Outreach: The VADP Executive Director has met with a number of local
conservative activists and Republican leaders. Our goal is to get 20 prominent conservatives
to sign and release a death penalty statement rooted in conservative political principles.
Thus far five prominent Virginia conservatives have agreed to support such a statement:
“+ Christian Braunlich, Vice President of the Jefferson Institute for Public Policy
“+ Shaun Kenney, former Executive Director of the Republican Party of Virginia
“+ Pat Nolan, Former Republican Assembly Leader in the State of California
“+ Kevin Walsh, University of Richmond Law School Professor and former clerk to U.S.
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia
* Thomas Bliley, Former Republican member of Congress (Third District of Virginia)
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The Executive Director will continue meet with conservatives to discuss the death penalty and
criminal justice - including former Congressmen Frank Wolfe and William Whitehurt, legal
experts Jay Sekulow and John Whitehead, and icons Richard Viguerie and Oliver North.
Our goal is to have a press conference by early 2016 announcing the conservative death
penalty statement. This public event will generate significant media attention and provide
political cover for Republican legislators to support death penalty reform legislation.
Grassroots organizing: In April and May of this year the VADP Executive Director convened
five regional meetings in northern Virginia, Charlottesville, Richmond, Norfolk, and Roanoke.
VADP supporters met the new Executive Director, discussed the recent legislative session, and
leamed VADP strategic directions. The Executive Director met 46 activists and assessed the
potential of each region for future growth. Several potential board members were identified as
well as volunteers to assist VADP with fundraising, communications, and office tasks.
VADP will hold its first statewide awards luncheon on October 10th. Steve Northup, former
board member and volunteer Executive Director for four years, will receive a “citizen
advocate” award. VADP will also give a “legislator of the year” award to a House of
Delegates member who helped defeat the compounding pharmacy execution drug secrecy bill.
Former Republican A ttorney General Mark Earley will be the keynote speaker and share the
story of how he moved from supervising 36 executions to becoming an abolitionist.
VADP will convene another series of regional meetings in northern Virginia, Richmond,
Norfolk, Charlottesville, and Roanoke. The Executive Director will present the organization’ s
legislative agenda, distribute advocacy materials, and encourage supporters to meet with their
Delegate and Senator in their home office before the start of the 2016 legislative session.
Amnesty International, the Virginia Catholic Conference, ACLU of Virginia, and NAMI
Virginia will also convene and train their constituents for legislative advocacy training and/or
encourage their members to attend the VADP regional meetings.
Legislative Advocacy: The most significant accomplishment during the 2015 session of the
Virginia General Assembly was the defeat of a compounding pharmacy execution drug
secrecy bill (SB 1393). Together with the Virginia Catholic Conference and the ACLU of
Virginia, VADP coordinated testimony and issued action alerts in opposition to SB 1393.
VADP recruited two University of Richmond Law School professors to testify against SB
1393 and to educate legislators on constitutional problems with the bill:
“» Corinna Lain - Former Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney, Associate Dean, and author
of articles on the constitution and the death penalty (esp. the 8th Amendment).
“> Kevin Walsh - Former clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, Professor,
and author of articles on doctrines defining the scope of federal judicial power.
Thanks to serious Constitutional questions raised by Professor Lain and the Virginia Press
Association, the bill’s sponsor deleted a sweeping secrecy section before it was narrowly
passed (7-6) by the Senate Courts of Justice Committee and by the full Senate (23-14).
VADP and its allies worked against the bill in the House, prompting amendments that further
weakened the bill before it passed by the House Courts of Justice Committee (12-6).
However, the bill was defeated on the floor of the House of Delegates (42-56). All 32
Democrats and 24 Republicans (over a third of the House caucus) voted against SB 1393.
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In another victory, a bill to redefine intellectual disabilities in capital cases (SB 855) won
unanimous passage in both the Senate and House of Delegates. This bill brought the Virginia
code into conformity with the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Hall v. Florida.
VADP and its allies have already had multiple meetings to plan for the 2016 legislative
session. Our goal is ensure that legislative advocacy follows the national strategy and does not
undermine the work of litigators in the courts.
We have agreed to focus on two death penalty reform measures that were recommended by the
2013 ABA Virginia Death Penalty Assessment Team:
Prohibit execution of individuals with severe mental illness (SMI):
Legislation that prohibits the application of the death penalty for anyone who, at the time
of the offense, suffered from significant limitations in both their general intellectual
functioning and adaptive behavior.
Pretrial determination of intellectual disability:
Legislation that requires the trial court to make a pretrial determination of whether a capital
defendant is intellectually disabled, and thus ineligible for the death penalty.
NAMI Virginia recently joined the Virginia coalition to be the public face of the SMI
execution ban legislation. Alexander Macaulay, a veteran health care lobbyist, has agreed to
represent NA MI in developing legislative language, securing Republican patrons in the House
of Delegates, and helping to shepherd the bill through the General Assembly.
The VADP Executive Director will meet on July 29th with Jamie Liban, Executive Director of
The Arc of Virginia, to discuss her organization’s involvement in advocacy on the pretrial
determination of intellectual disability bill.
The Executive Director has started to meet with the 24 Republicans House members who
voted against SB 1393. So far he has met with eight Delegates. Two are virtual abolitionists
while three others are critical of the death penalty. All five are willing to support reform
measures. The other three are reluctant supporters who feel that reform efforts in the House of
Delegates are unlikely to pass given the composition of the Courts of Justice Committee.
The Executive Director has met with two Republican candidates for open Senate seats and is
seeking a meeting with a third. These candidates are open to a critical discussion of Virginia's
capital system. We anticipate that one (perhaps two), if elected, will be allies in the Senate.
VADP and its allies have identified “target” legislators for the 2016 session - three Senators
and four Delegates, all members of their respective chamber s Courts of Justice Committee:
“+ Del. Ben Cline Lexington
+» Del. Manoli Loupassi Richmond
* Del. Gregory Habeeb Roanoke
** Del. Rob Bell Charlottesville
“ Sen. Mark Obenshain Harrisonburg
+» Sen. Dick Saslaw Norther Virginia
“+ Sen. Tommy Norment Williamsburg
VADP and its allies will focus their grassroots advocacy work in these districts. VADP will
train citizen advocates at their fall 2015 regional meetings in northern Virginia, Richmond,
Norfolk, Charlottesville, and Roanoke. Amnesty International has strong bases of support in
Harrisonburg and Williamsburg, and will schedule advocacy training meetings in those areas.
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3) Timeline of A ctivities/O utcomes - See table below.
Date Activity Outcome
August 2015 | Develop messaging on SMI Create communication toolkit for
legislation in concert with the ABA autumn grassroots advocacy
Death Penalty Due Process Review training by VADP & Amnesty
Project and 8th Amendment Project Intemational.
August Develop op-eds & LTEs to place in _| Identify grasstop leaders to sign the
target media markets op-eds.
September Meeting of Virginia DP legislative Report results of planning work &
coalition legislator meetings.
Further develop strategy for the
SMI & MR bills.
September Identify legislative patrons forID & | @ Identify a Republican to be the
SMI legislation and draft language chief patron in both the House of
for the two bills Delegates & Senate
September VADP board meeting Orient new board members.
Update fundraising plan.
Update strategic plan.
October Statewide awards luncheon Gather 50-100 people.
@ Raise at least $2,500.
Honor key stakeholders.
October - Convene five regional meetings Inform supporters of 2016
November legislative agenda.
@ Train grassroots advocates in
messaging for key bills.
November Meeting of Virginia DP legislative Report results of planning work &
coalition legislator meetings.
Finalize plans & timeline for the
SMI & MR campaigns.
November Sent out end of year fundraising letter | ¢ Goal of $25,000 in donations.
October - Place op-eds & LTEs in target media | # Get op-ed published in Daily Press,
December markets Roanoke Times, Charlottesville
Daily Progress, Richmond Times-
Dispatch, & Washington Post.
November- | Editorial board & key reporter Get meetings with the Daily Press,
December meetings Roanoke Times, Charlottesville
Daily Progress, Richmond Times-
Dispatch, & Washington Post.
January 2016 | Press conference announcing the Have prominent Republicans be
conservative death penalty statement speakers at the press event.
January - Lobby for the ID & SMI bills atthe | # Begin a substantive debate on
February General Assembly and issue action deficiencies in Virginia’s capital
alerts as appropriate punishment system.
Date Activity Outcome
January - Get editorials supporting the ID & Have supportive editorials
February SMI bills published in target media published in at least two of these
markets newspapers - Daily Press, Roanoke
Times, Charlottesville Daily
Progress, Richmond Times-
Dispatch, & Washington Post.
March Meeting of Virginia DP legislative @ Assess results of legislative
coalition advocacy efforts.
@ Identify key lessons for the 2017
session.
Begin 2017 campaign plans.
April Convene five regional meetings @ Review results of 2016 legislative
campaign efforts.
Develop plans for building VADP
membership & deepening
relationships with area legislators.
May Spring fundraising letter with Goal of $12,000 in donations.
outcomes of the legislative session
4) Communities of Color - The racial disparity in the application of capital punishment is a
central argument against the death penalty and a core component of VADP’s public message.
The legislative black caucus at the General Assembly is a key partner in legislative efforts.
One of our board members is Jerry Givens, the former executioner for Virginia. He isa
frequent subject of media coverage and has become the face of the abolition effort in our state.
He will reach the end of his maximum six-year board term in August, but will continue being a
speaker and media representative. We are fortunate that Charles Williams, an A frican-
American and son of a murder victim, has agreed to join the VADP board in September.
C. External Assessment: With the defeat of SB 1393 in 2015 and the defeat of an electric chair
default bill in 2014, VADP and its allies have put the Department of Corrections (DOC) into a
quandary on how to carry out executions. The DOC claims that its stock of the sedative
midazolam, the first drug in its three drug execution cocktail, will expire in September 2015.
Three of the eight men on Virginia’s death row are nearing the end of their appeals. It is
possible that Virginia could have as many as three executions in the next six to twelve months.
Governor McAuliffe’s administration actively supported SB 1393 despite near unanimous
opposition by Democratic members of the General Assembly. We expect the Governor to
continue supporting bills to ensure executions will continue in Virginia.
In the legislature the key obstacle to reform bills is the House Courts of Justice Committee. Its
chairman, Del. Rob Bell, is a death penalty proponent and a candidate for A ttorney General in
2017. Other key death penalty supporters on that committee include Delegates Todd Gilbert
(Woodstock) and Jackson Miller (Manassas).
However, there are potential Republican allies on this committee - including Delegates David
Albo (Fairfax), Greg Habeeb (Roanoke), Manoli Loupassi (Richmond), Randy Minchew
(Leesburg), and Ron Villanueva (Virginia Beach).
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D. Internal Assessment:
1) Advantages - VADP has strong legislative coalition partners. The involvement of NAMI
Virginia and the Arc of Virginia is crucial if the SMI and MR bills are to be successful.
VADP has a good core of major donors, a strong board of directors, and an Executive Director
with over thirty years of successful advocacy and organizing experience here in Virginia.
VADP’s influence in the General Assembly has grown steadily through relationship building.
VADP and its allies are positioned to become a more powerful force in the next two years.
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Challenges - The key to overcoming the obstacles identified in the extemal assessment is the
development of allies among conservative leaders and Republican legislators. The decision by
former A ttorney General Mark Earley to join the abolition position could be a huge asset.
Perhaps the biggest internal challenge for VADP is to grow grassroots funding from $50,000
per year to $70,000 by 2017. If successful, VADP will be financially self-sufficient for core
operations. In that eventuality, future grants can be utilized for specific strategic needs.
Board diversity is a continuing challenge for VADP. Although we have a libertarian and
African-A merican murder victim family member joining the board in September, we still have
along way to go to creating a more politically and racially diverse leadership.
E. Evaluation: Success will be measured by hitting or exceeding benchmarks in these areas:
Capacity - VADP has the internal resources to continue employment of a full-time Executive
Director, achieve stated goals, and adhere to the timeline of activities.
Legislation - Five or more Republican Delegates sponsor the SMI and MR bills in 2016. The
bills get a hearing in the Senate or House. Execution method bills continue to be defeated.
Fundraising - VADP is on track to becoming financially self-sufficient, with fundraising
growing at 20% per annum from small, large, and faith community donors.
Support - Educational programming and communications outreach produces an average of 25
actively engaged new supporters per month and VADP is effective at meeting their needs.
Relationships - VADP and its allies continue to build relationships with legislators as well as
key stakeholders such as conservatives and murder victims’ family members.
Executions/ Death Row Population - Executions continue to decline and fewer people are
prosecuted for and convicted of capital murder in Virginia.
VADP’s board of directors will evaluate these benchmarks at board meetings with staff.
Programmatic adjustments will be made to keep the organization on track with these goals.
F. Fundraising: VADP is on track in 2015 to reach $55,000 in grassroots donations. Our $5,000
goal for faith communities has been met. VADP has received over half of our individual donor
goal of $50,000 with our major year-end fundraising letter still to come.
An online donor portal has generated 13.6% of individual giving in 2015. With more effective
use of social media, VADP hopes to continue growing this online giving source. Our October
statewide awards luncheon will generate a new source of funds for VADP.
