What do Virginians say about a moratorium on the death penalty?
In a poll conducted in October 2000 by the Richmond Times-Dispatch and WSLS-TV, Roanoke, 58% of 735 registered Virginian voters favored stopping executions until issues surrounding the death penalty can be resolved. (Richmond Times- Dispatch, Nov. 6, 2000)
Contact VADP for a copy of the article which includes the poll methodology.
Below is a listing of groups and organizations that have passed moratorium resolutions. Please contact us if your group would like to join or if your group has adopted a moratorium resolution and is not listed.Legislative and Political Governing Bodies and Individuals
Charlottesville City Council (Jan. 18, 2000)
Va. Democratic Committee (May 2000)
State Black Caucus (June 26, 2000)
former Gov. Douglas Wilder (November 13, 2000)
Va. Democratic Central Committee (Dec. 2, 2000)
Lexington City Council (Feb. 15, 2001)
Blacksburg City Council (April 24, 2001)
Lt. Gov. Timothy Kaine
former Attorney General William Broaddus
former Attorney General Anthony Troy
Arlington County Civic Federation (November 13, 2001)Legal Community
Charlottesville-Albemarle Bar Association (April 14, 1999)
Virginia College of Criminal Defense Attorneys (July, 1999)
Harrisonburg/Rockingham County Bar Association (Feb. 14, 2001)
Warren County Bar Association (April 19, 2001)
Virginia Trial Lawyers Association (June 27, 2001)Press
Virginian Pilot, Norfolk (July 6, 1999)
News-Leader, Staunton (Feb. 11, 2000)
Potomac News (Feb. 13, 2000)
Roanoke Times (Feb. 19, 2000)
Richmond Free Press (April 13, 2000)
Southwest Va. Enterprise, Wytheville (January 27, 2001)
Lynchburg News & Advance (February 15, 2001)
Free-Lance Star, Fredericksburg (February 19, 2001)Religious Groups
Catholic Diocese of Richmond (January, 1998)
Manassas Church of the Brethren (Nov. 22, 1998)
Spirituality of the Feminine in Action, Falls Church (April 5, 1999)
Little Flower Catholic Worker, Goochland (April 12, 1999)
Pax Christi Richmond (May 7, 1999)
St. Francis of Assisi Parish, Triangle, VA (October 18, 1999)
Quaker Lake Friends Meeting, Keysville (September 29, 1999)
Episcopal Diocese of Virginia (Feb. 5, 2000)
Methodist Federation for Social Action, Virginia chapter (Feb. 12, 2000)
Virginia Council of Churches (Feb. 16, 2000)
St. Jude Catholic Church, Christiansburg (February 24, 2000)
Catholic High School, Virginia Beach (March 10,2000)
St. Pius X Catholic Church, Norfolk (March 25, 2000)
Maury River Friends Meeting, Lexington, VA (March 26, 2000)
Rev. Pat Robertson (April 7, 2000)
Tidewater Sowers of Justice (April 14, 2000)
Daughters of Wisdom, Southern region (April 14, 2000)
St. Jerome Catholic Church, Newport News, VA (May, 2000)
Roanoke Quaker Friends Meeting (May, 2000)
First Unitarian Church of Richmond (June 4, 2000)
Charlottesville Quaker Friends Meeting (June 4, 2000)
Voices that Challenge- Catholic High School, Virginia Beach (Spring 2000)
Virginia People of Faith for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
Herndon Quaker Friends Meeting (May 21, 2000)
Valley Quaker Friends Meeting, Harrisonburg area (June 11, 2000)
United Methodist Church of Virginia (June 13, 2000)
Richmond Quaker Friends Meeting (September 1, 2000)
St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Richmond (September 19, 2000)
Virginia Beach Quaker Friends Meeting (October 8, 2000)
Church of the Incarnation, Charlottesville (October 31, 2000)
Goose Creek Quaker Friends Meeting, Lincoln, VA (November 5, 2000)
Virlina District Conference, Church of the Brethren (November 11, 2000)
Church of the Sacred Heart, Pastoral council, Petersburg (November 14, 2000)
Prince of Peace Catholic Church, Chesapeake (November 17, 2000)
Church of the Good Shepherd, Smithfield (December 11, 2000)
Alexandria Quaker Friends Meeting (January 7, 2001)
Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia (February, 2001)
St. Anthony's of Padua Catholic Church, Falls Church (February 8, 2001)
Alliance of Baptists (February 23, 2001)
St. Mary Mother of God Catholic Church, Wytheville (April 24, 2001)
Universal Unitarians of Waynesboro (June 3, 2001)
Virginia Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (June 9, 2001)
St. Nicholas Catholic Church, Virginia Beach (September 11, 2001)
Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Norfolk (November 29, 2001)
Langley Hill Quaker Friends Meeting, McLean (December 16, 2001)
Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Norfolk (December 18, 2001)
Star of the Sea Parish, Virginia Beach (March 2, 2002)Other
Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
ACLU of Virginia
General Strike Collective, Rchmond (April 28, 1999)
Richmond Peace Education Center (Oct. 11, 1999)
Center for Radical Honesty, Stanley, VA (December, 2000)
Common Ground Network for Peace, Justice, and the Environment-
Harrisonburg (April 4, 2000)
Virginia Organizing Project (June 4, 2000)
Charlottesville Center for Peace and Justice (August 13, 2000)
Peninsula Peace Education Center, Newport News (October 10, 2000)
NAACP of Virginia (November 4, 2000)
Roundtable on Poverty, Wythe and Bland Counties (January 20, 2001)
Virginia Coalition for Juvenile Justice (Jan. 26, 2001)
The ARC of Virginia (mental retardation advocacy organization) (October 13, 2001)
Petition for Moratorium in Virginia (in Word Format)
Download Resolution for Moratorium on Executions in Va.(in Word Format)
RESOLUTION FOR MORATORIUM ON EXECUTIONS IN VIRGINIAWHEREAS the Commonwealth of Virginia has executed more people per capita than any other state with populations over one million, and is second only to the state of Texas in the total number of executions carried out since reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976.
WHEREAS the Commonwealth of Virginia denies those convicted of capital crimes full exercise of due process by implementing the following procedural rules:
The “21-Day Rule,” which does not permit a court to review any newly discovered evidence of innocence after 21 days have elapsed from the time of sentencing.WHEREAS the Commonwealth of Virginia requires that only DNA evidence be preserved so that it may be presented in appeal proceeding, and then may be destroyed after death sentence is carried out. All other evidence is not required to be preserved.The “Contemporaneous Objection Rule,” which does not permit objections to be made in appeals if they were not made in the original trial.
WHEREAS prisoner appeals have been severely curtailed, increasing the risk of imprisonment and execution of innocent people.
In a series of rulings since 1991, the Supreme Court has drastically restricted the rights of death row prisoners to appeal their convictions and death sentences in federal courts, even in cases where prisoners present compelling evidence of innocence.WHEREAS Virginia has the lowest reversal rate of death sentences on direct appeal in the country (8 percent). The Virginia Supreme Court has never reversed a death sentence under its mandatory review for proportionality. This review requires that it compare the nature of the murder with similar cases resulting in a life sentence.In 1996, new legislation drastically limited federal court review of death penalty appeals and eliminated public funding of legal aid services for death row prisoners.
The Virginia Supreme Court has never granted a petition for a writ of habeas corpus- a constitutional safeguard which allows for a challenge to the legitimacy (lawfulness) of a conviction or death sentence. Nationally, the error detection rate for death sentences on direct appeal is 46%.WHEREAS the Commonwealth of Virginia has executed those who were diagnosed as mentally ill or retarded and those who were under the age of 18 at the time of their offenses.WHEREAS there is ample evidence that the death penalty is applied in a racist manner:
In 1987, in McCleskey v. Kemp, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to act on data demonstrating the continuing reality of racial bias.WHEREAS death sentences are reserved for the poor:In 1990, the U.S. General Accounting Office reported “a pattern of evidence indicating racial disparities in charging, sentencing and imposition of the death penalty.”
Nationwide, 80% of those put to death had been convicted of murdering a white person even though people of color are the victims in more than half of all homicides.
In Virginia, only two white people have been executed for killing a person of color.
The U.S. Congress has failed repeatedly to pass the Racial Justice Act which would allow prisoners to challenge their death sentences using standards normal in civil racial discrimination cases.About 90% of those persons facing capital charges cannot afford their own attorney.WHEREAS the American Bar Association has concluded that administration of the death penalty is “a haphazard maze of unfair practices with no internal consistency” and has called for a moratorium on executions.
No state, including Virginia, has met standards developed by the American Bar Association (ABA) for appointment, performance and compensation of counsel for indigent prisoners.In April, 1999, the Charlottesville- Albemarle Bar Association became the first such organization to pass a resolution calling for a moratorium on the death penalty.WHEREAS surveys conducted by the Centers for Survey Research at Virginia Commonwealth University (1989) and Virginia Tech (1993-present) show that support for the death penalty is cut in half when Virginians are given an alternative to the death penalty of life, with no possibility of parole for a minimum of 25 years, combined with restitution to the victims’ family.Now, therefore, be it resolved that the ______________________________________________ located in ____________________________ calls on the Governor and our representatives to the Virginia Senate and House of Delegates and our representatives in the U.S. Congress, to enact and adopt legislation imposing a moratorium on executions so that the death penalty can be examined and policies and procedures are implemented which:Signature and title______________________________________________________________Ensure that death penalty cases are administered fairly and impartiallyPrevent the execution of mentally retarded persons and persons who were under the age of 18 at the time of their offenses.
Eliminate the risk that innocent persons may be executed.
Strive to eliminate discrimination in capital sentencingBe it further resolved that copies of this resolution shall be forwarded to the Governor, the Chief Justice of the Virginia Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, our state representatives, and to the President of the United States and members of our Congressional delegation.
Date_____________________________________
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