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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.