Capital Punishment Support in Virginia

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Author: lukemannion

Started: May 5, 2009, 1:09:56 pm

Target: Virginia General Assembly

Category: Government & Politics

Supporters:

Goal:

250

Goal Progress:

Status

Active

Background – Around The Nation

Within the past two years two states (New Jersey and New Mexico) have repealed the death penalty. Legislation in the state of Colorado passed one house of legislature but died in debate in the state senate. A movement to repeal the death penalty is very real.

In Virginia

Paul Powell brutally stabbed 16 year old Stacie Reed on January 29, 1999 after attempting to rape her in her Manassas Park home. He then proceeded to brutally attack her 14 year old sister Kristie a few hours later. Kristie was bound at the hands and feet with her own shoe laces, disrobed, choked until the passed out, raped and then had her throat and wrists slashed multiple times. Miraculously, she survived the attack and was able to identify Powell as the attacker. After having his first death sentence overturned on a procedural matter by the Virginia Supreme Court, Powell faced a maximum of a life sentence for the murder of Stacie Reed (he was already serving three life sentences for the crimes against Kristie). However, the week after the favorable ruling in October, 2001, Powell wrote a vile, profane letter to Commonwealth's Attorney Paul Ebert, bragging about how he had attempted to rape Stacie (circumstances not previously known about the case) and how he believed he was shielded from a new capital murder trial on that charge on the basis of double jeopardy. Ebert realized he had not tried Powell for murder with rape of Stacie Reed, so he withdrew the original charge and tried Powell again in January, 2003. The jury returned with a second death sentence for the unrepentant Powell.

Hall, Charlene. "Current Death Row Inmates In Virginia". ProDeathPenalty.com. 5 May 2009 <http://www.prodeathpenalty.com/virginia/row.html>.

Our Position

Within the Commonwealth of Virginia, capital punishment has come under great scrutiny; because of this many Virginians are uniting on a front to abolish the death penalty in our state. Because capital punishment is already an active practice in Virginia many people in support of the death penalty are politically inactive. Other states are abolishing the death penalty and supporters, unaware of the debate, are taken by surprise.
We, therefore, the undersigned citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia petition the General Assembly to plainly consider the current support of capital punishment.