Dear <first name>,
Earlier this year, pro-death penalty legislators in the Virginia General
Assembly browbeat their colleagues into voting for HB 815, a bill that would
make the electric chair the default execution method in Virginia if lethal
injection drugs are not available.
With the execution date scheduled in March (but later stayed by the
courts) for notorious mass murderer Ricky Gray, blood-thirsty legislators
shamelessly exploited the horrendous facts around the murder of the
Harvey Family to pressure their colleagues into supporting the bill.
Rather than doing the right thing and vetoing the bill, Governor Terry
McAuliffe instead introduced an amendment, which the General Assembly
accepted, to allow the Department of Corrections to obtain execution drugs
in secret from compounding pharmacies.
This new law will cloak the source of execution drugs in a veil of
secrecy. The quality of compounded drugs varies significantly and presents
a very real risk of horrific botched executions. This is an unacceptable
exception from the proud tradition of open government in the
Commonwealth of Virginia.
If that sounds familiar, it should.
Grassroots Virginians like you turned up the heat on the General
Assembly last year to stop a similar proposal by Governor McAuliffe. Faced
with opposition from their constituents, even many conservatives who
support the death penalty voted against this secretive scheme.
But this year, 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 the electric chair bill, and we have no way to
execute the horrible people on death row.
Make no mistake, Governor McAuliffe did everything in his power to
ensure that executions continue in Virginia. His false choice generated
enormous pressure on conservative legislators to vote in favor of execution
secrecy.
Notwithstanding this “perfect storm,” the Republican-dominated
House of Delegates STILL voted against the Governor’s amendment. But
pro-death penalty legislators would not accept defeat, and aggressively
cajoled and threatened thirteen Republicans changed into their vote and
approving execution secrecy.
Despite this setback, I am increasingly confident that, with your help
we will continue making progress to abolish the death penalty in Virginia.
Let me give you just a few reasons why.
First, while we are disappointed by the outcome, I am incredibly
proud of the great advocacy work done by VADP supporters over the past
three months. Hundreds of you responded to VADP action alerts and either
sent e-mails or called the offices of their Delegates and Senators, and we
are continuing to build our online network of activists to take action during
the next big legislative battle.
Second, our advocacy efforts have resulted in the emergence of a core
of Republican legislators who have consistently voted against every death
bill in the past two years.
We have identified an even larger group of Republican Delegates and
Senators who struggle to vote in favor of these bills. They are torn by
conscience, and only supported the electric chair or execution secrecy after
intense pressure from colleagues and the Governor.
Third, last year the Utah legislature passed a bill to make the firing
squad that state’s default execution method if lethal injection drugs were
not available. Despite that terrible vote, the same legislators nearly
abolished the death penalty in Utah. The state Senate voted for abolition,
and the House was only a few votes short of supporting an end to capital
punishment.
Finally, virtually all major newspapers in the Commonwealth opposed.
the electric chair bill or secret execution drugs, or both. Three newspapers
-- the Virginian Pilot, Daily Press, and Staunton News Leader -- called for
death penalty abolition.
We are at a new Stage in Virginia’s death penalty debate. VADP must
expand its staff in order to get us over the finish line to abolition.
With your help, a full-time grassroots field worker can build even
greater political support in key legislative districts for abolition. Delegates
and Senators who reluctantly vote for the death penalty need this “political
cover” back home in order to vote for abolition.
That’s why I hope you'll please renew and increase your financial
support right away.
To abolish the death penalty in Virginia, we need your help today -
your generous tax-deductible gift returned in the envelope provided. (You
can also give with your credit or debit card at our secure web site:
www.vadp.org “Donate”.)
With urgent thanks,
CPW
Michael Stone
Executive Director
P.S. After arm-twisting by Governor Terry McAuliffe and pro-death penalty
legislators, the Virginia General Assembly caved and enacted the
Governor’s scheme to allow the state to obtain execution drugs in secret.
To help VADP’s advocacy programs counteract such threats in the future
and bring Virginia closer to abolishing the death penalty once and for all
please - right now -- return your generous VADP donation using the form
and envelope provided.
