By Paul O’Shea: For the first time in Virginia’s history, capital punishment, a grim and tragic legacy, may finally be abolished. That was the theme of the recent annual awards luncheon of Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (VADP). Currently, with a Democratically-controlled Virginia General Assembly and growing support from conservatives and libertarians, death penalty abolition legislation could be…
Tag: Rachel Sutphin
It’s cruel but not unusual for Virginia to execute the seriously mentally ill
By Paul O’Shea: The last person executed in Virginia was mentally ill. Yet Virginia, which has executed more people than any state except Texas, has no law protecting the mentally disabled from capital punishment. It’s time to change that. When Virginia completed the task of executing William Morva at 9:15 p.m. on July 6, 2017, it had killed a disturbed…