Why We Contribute to VADP
Linell Patterson, Rockingham
In 2001 I lost my Dad and step-mom to a brutal
murder. I heard how the death penalty was being
sought to bring justice to the victims’ family. In
reality, my sister and I had asked the prosecuting
attorney to work towards life imprisonment.
To think that a person could be
killed for me does not align with
my belief system and is a burden
Icarry. The thought that another
family would have to grieve this
death for my justice is haunting.
The death penalty won’t honor my dad and step-
mom, or bring any sort of healing.
I donate to VADP because they’re working hard to
create a different sort of system - one that I believe
would bring me more healing and peace.
Michael Hash, Ruther Glen
I was falsely convicted of murder as a juvenile at
the time of the crime, so I wasn’t given the death
penalty. But it could have =. ~ id
easily gone a different way. iy
The only hope that I had for
12 years as an innocent man |}
in prison was that the truth |
would come out some day.
That is why I support VADP - because they are
fighting for justice. How can there be justice with
an irreversible penalty? Government doesn’t
always get it right; I’m living proof of that.
Ewan Watt, Alexandria
My chief reason for opposing the
death penalty is my concern with
government coercion. I believe
in limiting government power
in all facets of public policy,
including public safety.
I question the use of the death penalty as a form of
punishment and deterrence that is carried out by
people who are all too fallible.
Jerry Givens, Richmond
During a 17-year span I killed 62 people for the
Virginia Department of Corrections.
Some executions were hard. It
made me think. If someone was
innocent, I didn’t want to be a
part of that. So I started praying,
“God, if I killed an innocent per-
son, forgive me.”
Virginia kills people. And what does that make
us all? The executioner. I didn’t enjoy killing and
I wouldn’t wish that burden on anybody.
I believe the death penalty is wrong. I support
VADP because of their work to end it in Virginia.
Rey. Marc Boswell, Louisiana
I support VADP because of my
faith convictions about the im-
morality of the death penalty and
the sanctity of human life. Since
all humans are created in the im-
age of God, I don’t think that the
state should have license to
end prematurely the life of any human being. I
have found the advocacy and public witness of
VADP to be greatly important work.
Neva Herrington, Alexandria
I believe that the death penalty is
a violation of human rights and
poses the danger of killing an
innocent person. As the mother
of a murder victim, I oppose the
taking of a human life to punish
loss of my daughter Elizabeth,
murdered in Fredericksburg on November 4, 1994.
VADP 2016 Annual Report
Mixed Results in Virginia During 2016
Dear VADP Supporters,
Much like the national scene, Virginia had mixed
results about the death penalty in 2016.
Last year the General Assembly
passed legislation to mandating
use of the electric chair if lethal
injection drugs are not available.
Instead of vetoing this bad bill,
Gov. McAuliffe proposed using
secret execution drugs from
compounding pharmacies for Virginia executions.
There was significant opposition to Governor
McAuliffe’s execution drug secrecy proposal.
The House of Delegates initially rejected it, but
approved it after pressure from House leaders.
Our work on legislation to ban the execution of
people with severe mental illness has resulted in
new partnerships. Seven new mental health
groups joined our coalition in 2016.
This coalition developed a sophisticated strategy
that focused on key legislators with mixed voting
records on death penalty-related issues, carried out
legislator visits in their home districts, and won
significant media support for our legislative goals.
Virginia had another year with no death sentences.
It is now over five years since a jury sentenced
someone to death in September 2011. And a jury
in rural Dinwiddie county gave a life sentence for
the killer of a Virginia state trooper in August.
The recent execution of Ricky Gray and upcoming
executions are remnants of old capital cases that
today would likely result in life sentences.
It is indeed a new day for Virginia. We need you
to continue responding to our action alerts, coming
to regional meetings and education events, and
making generous financial donations to our work.
— Michael Stone
VADP Executive Director
Why Board Members Support VADP
Paul O’Shea, Fairfax
As death penalty abolitionists, we
are working to save lives. The
lives of those wrongly convicted
on death row. The lives of those
erroneously prosecuted, poorly
represented, racially persecuted.
We work toward this end by our
unending efforts at the state level
to reduce death sentences and executions.
One day our increasingly successful movement
will happily cease the need to exist.
But before that inevitable day comes, there’s
enormous work to be done.
VADP 2016 Annual Report
Kristina Leslie, Annandale
As a capital defense attorney, I have witnessed the
harm that capital punishment causes to clients and
their loved ones. Victims rarely find closure as
capital cases can span decades.
Inconsistencies in the law, racial
prejudice, and geography all
contribute to the basic unfair-
ness of the death penalty.
It is an affront to our dignity and ae
a violation of our most basic human rights. There
is no just or decent way to impose death.
Together we can make a difference and abolish
this outdated and inhumane practice.
