VADP

Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (VADP) is a statewide citizens' organization dedicated to educating the public about alternatives to the death penalty.

The bases for our beliefs and actions include the following:

• The death penalty panders to fear and attempts to provide a simple solution to complex questions.
• The death penalty is ineffective. Numerous studies show that it does not deter crime.
• The death penalty, as applied today, discriminates against the poor, people of color, and the mentally impaired.
• Our opposition to the death penalty in no way negates or contradicts our sorrow over the loss of life suffered by murder victims and our compassion and sympathy for their families and friends.
• All of humanity's major wisdom traditions call on us to love one another and value human life. The state should not completely devalue human life and execute anyone by repeating a violent act.
• The death penalty saps our economic resources. Since it costs more to kill a prisoner than to rehabilitate or house one for life, executions waste tax dollars that can be spent much more effectively.
• Research shows that despite all legal safeguards, innocent people have been wrongly convicted of murder and have been killed by the state. Common sense tells us that because humans err, the justice system simply cannot be made foolproof. Some innocent people will die as long as we have a death penalty. These mistakes can never be corrected.

OPPOSING UNFAIR LEGAL PROCEDURES

VADP works to educate Virginians to the 21-day and contemporaneous objection rules. The 21-day rule prevents new evidence from being introduced more than 21 days after conviction -- even if such evidence shows the defendant is innocent. The contemporaneous objection rule bars lawyers from raising objections on appeal if they weren't brought up in the trial. Virginia is the only state which does not waive this rule in capital cases.

SUPPORTING MURDER VICTIMS' FAMILIES

VADP works together with Murder Victims' Families for Reconciliation in supporting the families of murder victims.

VADP ACTION

VADP's newsletter provides death penalty opponents with news about capital appeals, pending executions and vigils, legislative bills, VADP plans and strategies, and anti-death penalty work in communities around the state. Contact us for information concerning vigils in your area.

Virginians Say They Want an Alternative

Politicians loudly support the death penalty because they believe it is popular - - and it's easier than finding more complex, effective solutions to crime. Independent statewide polls from 1989 and 1993-present asked this question to a broad sample of Virginians:

"Would you favor abolition of the death penalty if the alternative were a life sentence with no possibility of parole for 25 years, combined with a restitution program requiring the prisoner to work for money that would go to the families of murder victims?"

The Response: The 1989 poll from Virginia Commonwealth University and the 1993-present poll from the Center for Survey Research at Virginia Tech show that Virginians overwhelmingly prefer the alternative over the death penalty. The figure is consistent with similar polls nationwide.

Virginians may dislike the death penalty for many reasons: religious faith, belief in the sanctity of human life, opposition to punishments which unfairly affect the poor and people of color, or simply the desire for real crime-fighting, rather than futile, expensive, vengeance.