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In
seeking the Democratic nomination a month ago, Del. R. Creigh Deeds (Dem.-Bath
County) responded
to a question by saying that, although he does believe in the death
penalty for some crimes, he was not "satisfied that punishment is handed
down … in a way that is fair to all Virginians."
Deeds said he was one of a handful of Democrats, and the only former
prosecutor, to vote this year for a moratorium on capital punishment until
a state study of it is completed. (The moratorium failed to get out of committee,
but the study has been completed - see below).
The bill has been presented several times, in identical form, by various
patrons. Here is the latest version:
HOUSE BILL NO. 2799
Offered January 19, 2001
A BILL to establish a moratorium on prisoner executions.
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Patrons-- Devolites, Callahan, Hargrove and Plum
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Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
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WHEREAS, imposition of the death penalty is the ultimate punishment that
the Commonwealth can impose on a person; and
WHEREAS, the imposition of the death penalty carried out by order of
the Commonwealth on an innocent person would be an unspeakable and most
lamentable injustice; and
WHEREAS, questions have arisen about disparity, fairness, equity, and
due process requirements regarding the imposition of the death penalty,
the competence of counsel for capital defendants, and limitations on the
introduction of new and possibly exculpatory evidence; and
WHEREAS, recent forensic developments, especially in DNA analysis, have
supplied previously unavailable technology to establish the innocence or
guilt of death row inmates in some instances; and
WHEREAS, on the basis of post-conviction DNA testing not available at
the time of his trial, Earl J. Washington, Jr., who was convicted of capital
murder and twice scheduled to be executed for the 1982 rape and murder of
a Culpepper woman, was recently shown to be innocent and granted an absolute
pardon for capital murder; and
WHEREAS, it is expected that DNA and other forensic technologies will
continue to aid and advance law enforcement in ways that cannot now be foreseen;
and
WHEREAS, these factors warrant a thorough review of the process of administering
the death penalty in the Commonwealth and a study of the death penalty is
being conducted by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission;
WHEREAS, it is expected that the final report issued as a result of the
death penalty study conducted by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review
Commission will be completed late in 2001 and submitted to the General Assembly
for its review; now, therefore,
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. § 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Commonwealth
shall not conduct any executions of prisoners sentenced to death. This act
is a suspension of executions only; all other matters of law related to
the death penalty, including but not limited to bringing and trying capital
charges, sentencing proceedings, imposing a death sentence, appeals and
habeas review, are not affected by this act.
2. That the provisions of this act shall expire on the first day of July
following the receipt by the General Assembly of the final report of the
Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission on the death penalty. |
Creigh Deeds, as a member of the House of Delegates Committee on the Courts
of Justice, has in fact done as he says. He has voted in favor of the moratorium
each time it has come to the committee.
The report of the JLARC is scheduled to come out Monday, December 11.
What Does the Future Hold?
Virginia is a strong death penalty state. Since the return of the death
penalty in 1976, after a four-year, Supreme Court directed moratorium, only
Texas, with a far larger population, has executed more prisoners than Virginia.
(More information about the death penalty in Virginia is available at the
website of Virginians for Alternatives to
the Death Penalty)
Is there a future for legislation in Virginia that would cease carrying
out death penalty sentences (ending the death penalty as a sentencing option
seems, at this point, too remote a possibility for the Commonwealth)? (Dave
Sagarin, December 5, 2001).
Please send your thoughts about the 25th District Senate race
and about the future of legislation to halt the imposition of the death
penalty in Virginia to george@loper.org where the most representative comments
will be placed on my web site with full attribution.
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