‘Historic Step’

Virginia Legislature Votes for Death Penalty Abolition

The Virginia House voted in favor of axing capital punishment Friday, which the state Senate voted for earlier this week.

Virginia’s House of Delegates voted Friday to abolish the death penalty in the state, adding momentum to a Senate vote earlier this week. In coming weeks the bill will go to the desk of Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam, who has indicated support for eliminating capital punishment. Democratic House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn said in a statement, “Today, our Commonwealth took a historic step in making our criminal justice system more just. The repeal of capital punishment in Virginia takes our Commonwealth out of the business of determining life and death and ends a practice that a majority of Virginians oppose.” Should Northam sign the bill into law, Virginia would be the first state in the South to eliminate the death penalty.