Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
Tides Foundation Final Grant Report
October 30, 2015
$10,000 Advocacy Fund Grant
TAO 14-00061
All activities conducted by Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, Inc. were and are consistent
with its status under Intemal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3) which remains unchanged since the
proposal and related materials were submitted to The Advocacy Fund. Virginians for Alternatives to the
Death Penalty, Inc. warrants that it is in full compliance with its grant letter dated October 1, 2014 and
that, if the grant was subject to any restrictions, all such restrictions were observed.
Impact & Assessment
The most significant accomplishment of VA DP during the 2015 session of the Virginia General
Assembly was the defeat of a compounding pharmacy execution drug secrecy bill (SB 1393).
Together with its main legislative partners, the Virginia Catholic Conference and the ACLU of
Virginia, VADP coordinated testimony and issued action alerts in opposition to SB 1393.
In addition to keeping the identity and materials used by a compounding pharmacy, the original
version of SB 1393 had incredibly sweeping secrecy language about the execution process itself.
VADP Executive Director Michael Stone recruit 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 A ttomey, Associate Dean, and author of
articles on constitutional theory and the death penalty (especially the 8th Amendment).
* Kevin Walsh - Former clerk for Justice Antonin Scalia of the U.S. Supreme Court, 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 this entire section before it was narrowly passed (7-6) by the
Senate Courts of Justice Committee. Three Republicans voted against the bill in committee, but
passage was assured due to the absence of two Democratic Senators due to injury and illness.
After passing the Senate (23-14), VADP and its allies worked against the bill in the House of
Delegates. Professor Walsh and the Virginia Press Association raised serious questions about
provisions in SB 1393 and amendments were adopted to weaken the bill. It was passed by the House
Courts of Justice Committee (12-6). But the bill was defeated on the House floor (42-56). All 32
Democrats and 24 Republicans (over a third of the House caucus) voted against SB 1393.
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.
Challenges
Governor McAuliffe’s administration actively supported SB 1393 despite near unanimous
opposition by Democratic member of the General Assembly. The Director of Public Safety
Brian Moran (a former Democratic Party candidate for Governor) actively lobbied for the bill.
In addition, the Department of Corrections launched an unusual effort to revive SB 1393 in
House of Delegates after its floor defeat, lobbying legislators to reverse their votes.
The administration has steadfastly refused to meet with VA DP and its allies to discuss shifting
the administration’ s focus from the method of execution to reforming the death penalty process.
The Democratic Attorney General Mark Herring and Gov. McAuliffe enabled the execution of
Alfredo Prieto to proceed on October 1, 2015 despite his strong intellectual disability legal claim.
The Virginia Department of Corrections traveled to Texas to obtain one of the three drugs
needed to execute Mr. Prieto. This source of this drug is secret because of that state’s law.
Evaluation & Lessons Learned
VADP and its allies have leamed that the administration of Gov. Terry McAuliffe is unlikely to
do anything to delay executions much less support reform legislation in the General Assembly.
After the legislative session VA DP Executive Director began meeting with Republican Delegates
who voted against SB 1393. So far he has met with eight. 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 current composition of the Courts of Justice Committee.
The VADP Director has also 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.
NAMI Virginia has joined VADP and its allies in a two year campaign to pass serious mental
illness (SMI) exclusion legislation in the 2017 General Assembly session. A bill is currently
being drafted by Richard Bonnie, Professor of Law and Director of the Institute of Law,
Psychiatry and Public Policy at the University of Virginia. NAMI, VADP, and its allies will
work together to educate legislators on this bill during the 2016 session of the General Assembly.
The Arc of Virginia has agreed to join VADP and its allies to work on another recommendation
of the 2013 Virginia ABA Study, the pretrial determination of intellectual disability in capital
cases. This work will commence after the 2016 legislative session.
Funding & Finances
For the first nine months of 2015 VADP has generated $47,911.40 in income. Individuals
contributed $30,579.16; churches gave $9,075.00; and special events generated $2,000.00 in
revenue. In addition, the Tides Foundation gave a $6,000 capacity building grant for a new
mobile friendly web site that should go live in the next week or two.
Total expenses for the first nine months total $63,799.30 for $15,887.90 in negative net income.
We anticipate that end of year giving will exceed expenses so that we can end the 2015 calendar
year with an approximate net income of zero.
Our end of year fundraising letter should go out the week after Thanksgiving. This will be
supplemented by a social media development effort and continued faith community fundraising.
Board members will contact VADP major donors by phone to encourage an increase in gifts.
Finally, we plan to have several in person meetings with major donors with the capacity for
substantial four figure donations.
During these major donor meetings we will present a five year strategy document that asks them
to increase giving so that we can hire a full-time conservative outreach organizer. This will
include a number of specific giving levels that are needed to reach this new staffing goal in 2015.
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Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
Tides Foundation Interim Grant Report
October 30, 2015
$10,000 Advocacy Fund Grant
TAO 14-00061
Financial Report for the Grant Y ear
October 1, 2014 to September 30, 2015
Expenditures
Budget (as of 9-30-2015)
Personnel Expenses:
Executive Director $ 9,000 $ 9,000
Personnel Subtotal
Direct Expenses:
Travel 350 350
Postage & Shipping
Printing & Copying
Materials & Books
Database & Website 650 650
Direct Expenses Subtotal 1,000 1,000
Indirect Expenses:
Telephone & Fax
Development/Fundraising
Professional Fees
Indirect Expenses Subtotal 0 0
Total Expenses $ 10,000 $ 10,000
