Photo: Crixell Matthews/VPM News
A proposal to end the death penalty in Virginia is headed to the Senate floor. It has the support of some victim’s family members, who say they want to avoid lengthy trials and the painful rehashing of their loved one’s murders.
The Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee approved Senate Bill 1165 this week on a 12-4 vote and detailed some of the financial implications to the state.
The bill, if passed, would commute the sentences of two individuals who are currently on death row to life in prison.
A fiscal analysis found that eliminating the death penalty would cost about $77,000 because the Virginia Department of Corrections would have to continue housing those two individuals instead of putting them to death.