Virginia lawmakers vote to abolish the death penalty

RICHMOND, Virginia (AP) – State lawmakers on Monday approved legislation that will end the death penalty in Virginia, a dramatic turnaround for a state that has executed more people in its long history than any other.

Legislation repealing the death penalty is now directed at Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam, who has said he will sign it, making Virginia the 23rd state to stop executions.

“We realize that it is time to put an end to this obsolete practice which tends to do more harm to the family members of the victims than to offer us comfort or comfort,” said Rachel Sutphin, whose father , the corporal. Eric Sutphin, was fatally shot in 2006 while working for the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.

William Morva, the man convicted of the murder of Eric Sutphin, was executed in 2017. Two years later, Rachel Sutphin was one of 13 family members of murder victims to send a letter to the General Assembly calling on legislators to abolish the death penalty.

“By voting for abolition, we are showing the way, if Virginia – the state with the longest history and the most people executed – if we can do it, so can other states,” said Rachel Sutphin.

Virginia’s new Democratic majority, in full control of the General Assembly for a second year, pushed the repeal effort, arguing that the death penalty has been disproportionately applied to people of color, the mentally ill and to the needy.

“It is vital that our criminal justice system functions fairly and punishes people fairly. We all know the death penalty doesn’t do that. It is inequitable, inefficient and inhumane, ”said Northam, Speaker of the House Eileen Filler-Corn and Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw in a joint statement after the votes.

Republicans have expressed concerns about justice for victims and their families, and have said some crimes are so heinous the perpetrators deserve to be executed.

Only two men remain on Virginia’s death row. Anthony Juniper was sentenced to death for the murders committed in 2004 against his ex-girlfriend, two of his children and his brother. Thomas Porter was sentenced to death for the 2005 murder of a Norfolk police officer. The repeal law would convert their sentences to life imprisonment without parole.

During the House debate on Monday, Republican Del. Rob Bell described the murders in horrific detail, and said Porter and Juniper would be following the vote from prison with particular interest.

“We have five Virginians dead that this bill will ensure that their killers will not receive justice,” Bell said.

Porter, Juniper and their families declined to comment through their attorney, Rob Lee, executive director of the Virginia Capital Representation Resource Center.

“By eliminating the death penalty, government, political and moral leaders have taken long overdue action to make Virginia a more just and just Commonwealth,” Lee said in a statement.

The passage of the legislation was just the latest in a long list of sweeping political changes adopted by Democrats, which have increasingly reshaped the Old Dominion in an outlier in the South on racial, social and economic issues.

Last year, lawmakers passed some of the region’s toughest gun laws, the broadest LGBTQ protections, its highest minimum wage, and some of its loosest abortion restrictions. This year, too, lawmakers have passed step by step measure after step.

But the death penalty bill marks a particularly brutal reversal in a state where executions have taken place over the past decade under Republican and Democratic governors. The state legislature and state officials have also acted in recent years to preserve Virginia’s ability to execute and limit transparency around the process.

Even last year, bills to abolish the death penalty in the General Assembly have gone nowhere.

On Monday, the two chambers approved separate but identical repeal bills. The Senate approved a House bill, advancing it to Northam on a 22-16 vote. Republican Senator Jill Vogel joined Democrats in the chamber to vote for the passage. Later Monday, House Democrats and two GOP members, Del. Jeff Campbell and Del. Carrie Coyner, voted to approve the Senate version, 57-43.

No date has yet been set for the governor’s signature, according to his spokesperson.

Historically, Virginia has used the death penalty more than any other state, executing nearly 1,400 people since its beginnings as a colony, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Since the United States Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, Virginia, with 113 executions, is second after Texas.

Michael Stone, executive director of Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, called the vote to abolish capital punishment a historic moment in the state’s history.

“We hope that Virginia will set an example for other states of the former Confederation to take this bold step towards humane reform of our legal justice system,” Stone said.