Thursday, March 25, 2021
Political Mayhem Thursday: Victory over death in Virginia
Something remarkable happened yesterday: Virginia got rid of the death penalty. It's the first Southern state to do so. Over the past 400 years, Virginia executed more people than any other state, and in the modern era it was second only to Texas.
I really love Virginia. I went to college at one of its state schools, and still miss it. It has changed, of course, and for the better!
Just over the last 10 years, a number of states--Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, New Hampshire, Washington, and now Virginia-- have eliminated the death penalty. No state in that period has re-instated or adopted capital punishment. The trend is clear.
If you want to know why this is a good thing, check out this simple fact sheet from the Death Penalty Information Center. Also, you know, I wrote two books about it- including one (Prosecuting Jesus) that describes the battle in Virginia to make this change.
Thanks to Craig Anderson, I had the honor of meeting some of the people who were at the front of this fight and won this victory, including Steve Northrup and Michael Stone. It's remarkable to see decades of good work finally come to fruition!
