Virginia Governor Ralph Northam signed legislation to end the death penalty in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Virginia is the first southern state to end the death penalty and holds the dubious distinction of being the second highest state of executions with 1400 lives taken since the Colonies. The death penalty has its roots in slavery, slave patrols, lynching and Jim Crow. The good news is that Virginia becomes the 23rd state to end the death penalty. The bad news is that 27 other states still have the death penalty. Ironically, lynching was the precursor to the death penalty. Lynching events decreased as capital punishment took its place in the South. Eight in ten executions since 1976 have occurred in the South. And eight in ten lynching incidents from 1889 to 1918 were carried out in the South. Executions in Virigna were carried out by hanging for the first 300 years until 1908. The earliest form of the death penalty was the slave patrols. The earliest form of … [Read more...] about Virginia Ends Death Penalty After 400 Years
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Why the Case of U VA Student Martese Johnson Matters
The case of 20 year old University of Virginia (“U VA”) student, Martese Johnson, beaten, arrested and charged by police with obstruction of justice, public intoxication and swearing should matter to anyone who cares about justice in this country. Mr. Johnson is lucky to be alive today. He could have died a senseless violent death at the hands of the Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control (“ABC”) Board police for being denied entry to a bar on the early morning hours of March 18. The ABC police in front of witnesses bashed Johnson’s face as evident by his bloody face in photos. Eric Garner died at the choking hands of a New York police officer while stopped for allegedly possessing illegal cigarettes. And Michael Brown died a violent death in Ferguson, Missouri for running away from police officer Darren Wilson. Twelve year old Tamir Rice died a violent death for playing with a toy BB gun on a playground in Cleveland as his sister watched nearby. And countless other unnamed young … [Read more...] about Why the Case of U VA Student Martese Johnson Matters