Virginia Poised to Abolish Death Penalty

“Virginia legislators appear poised to abolish the death penalty in the coming days, a step that would make it the first Southern state to end the practice of capital punishment,” The Hill reports.

Said Gov. Ralph Northam (D): “The practice is fundamentally inequitable. It is inhumane. It is ineffective. And we know that in some cases, people on death row have been found innocent.”

Virginia would be the 23rd state to have abolished the death penalty. Colorado legislators did so in 2020.