Success: Leading Executioner State Abolishes Death Penalty

Target: Ralph Northam, Governor of Virginia

Goal: Endorse end of death penalty as unfair instrument of punishment.

The death penalty and its controversies have returned to the forefront of public consciousness. Since 2020, a sudden ramp-up in federal executions brought condemnation, as highlighted in this ForceChange petition. Shortages of drugs used in lethal injections have also occurred, prompting the state of South Carolina to consider joining just four other states in reinstating firing squads as a method of death. For decades, advocates have called into question the fairness and humanity of a punishment that for many amounts to legalized murder. Now, as its nearby neighbors try to ramp up executions, in the summer of 2021 Virginia will become the first Southern state to abolish capital punishment.

This move marks quite the transformation for a state that once led the nation in executions, with more than 1,250 in its history. Debate has swirled around the death penalty in Virginia particularly because of its frequent usage and due to a troubling finding that 80 percent of inmates put to death in the past century were minorities. Governor Ralph Northam cited these statistics when he signed the bill striking down capital punishment into law in spring. It will take effect formally in July, when Virginia becomes the 23^rd state to outlaw the death penalty.

Sign the petition below to support the end of an archaic, inhumane, and discriminatory government practice.

PETITION LETTER:

Dear Governor Northam,

You recently stated, “ending the death penalty comes down to one fundamental question…is it fair?” You answered this question for Virginia when you helped end its deadly legacy as the U.S. state with the most executions. No other developed, industrialized country utilizes capital punishment for a reason.

For many Americans, the death penalty is not justice delivered, but a perversion of the concept of justice. Thank you for joining roughly half of the states in this country by striking down this barbaric relic that has too often been used as a weapon of division and inequity.

Sincerely,

[Your Name Here]

Photo Credit: Karolina Grabowsk