“They [inmates] will dwell in our penitentiaries until the very last breath that they take it is fair and just but is also fair for the victims, as well,” Mr. Stanley said.
In addition to ending the death penalty, Mr. Surovell’s bill would commute the death sentences for the only two men currently on death row for capital murder Anthony Juniper and Thomas Porter to life in prison.
Christopher Newport University released a survey Tuesday that found 56% of registered Virginia voters support repealing the death penalty.
The data showed that support abolishing capital punishment fell along party lines, with 74% of Democrats backing the proposal and 64% of Republicans opposing it.
FAIRFIELD-SUISUN, CALIFORNIA
Correctional officers stand at the entrance to the Greensville Correctional Center Nov. 10, 2009 near Jarratt, Virginia. (Alex Wong/Getty Images/TNS)
Since 1608, Virginia has executed more people than any other state. It may now abolish the death penalty.
But after more than 400 years, the state’s days of capital punishment may be numbered.
Though Virginia has executed more people than any other state since Colonial times, it’s been nearly four years since its last execution and 10 years since juries handed down the state’s last two death sentences.
There are only two inmates on Virginia’s death row both stemming from Norfolk cases down from a peak of 40 in 1998.
The first recorded public execution in Virginia took place at Jamestown in 1608, but legislation to end capital punishment recently passed two key Senate committees and stands a good chance at ultimate passage.
Over warnings it could endanger the lives of law enforcement officers, a bill that would abolish the death penalty in Virginia advanced out of the Senate Judiciary Committee Monday, largely