Photo courtesy Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
The goal of any nonprofit is to achieve its objective and put itself out of business. That is what Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty did in February.
According to Executive Director Michael Stone, VADP’s board of directors voted to shutter the organization after November’s state elections convinced them that a comfortable majority of Virginia legislators are in favor of abolition and that there was no chance of the death penalty returning for at least four years. One failed attempt, HB 394, was filed this year by Del. Tim Griffin, R-53rd.
Stone credits the abolition victory not just to VADP but also to the work of family members of murder victims, prosecutors, defense attorneys, conservatives, faith leaders and civil rights activists. “VADP and our allies were able to convince the General Assembly to end the racist scourge of capital punishment,” he says, adding that “Virginia has shown the way for other states across the South to abolish the death penalty.”
Virginia’s first execution was performed in 1608, and except for a moratorium between 1962 and 1982, the practice continued until 2017. While abolition efforts in Virginia began informally in the late 1970s, Virginians Against State Killing was formed in 1991. Two years later, it became a 501(c)(4) and changed its name to VADP. In 2021, then-Gov. Ralph Northam ended Virginia’s 413-year death penalty history, following the executions of 1,390 men and women, more than any other state.
The organization has asked the Arlington nonprofit Justice Forward Virginia to monitor future legislation. VADP’s records and archives will be sent to the National Death Penalty Archive at the State University of New York at Albany.
“It has truly been an honor and a privilege to lead VADP over the past nine years,” Stone says. “The relationships that I have forged in that time have enriched my life beyond measure.”
Dale Brumfield served as VADP’s field director from 2017 to 2021 and as executive director from 2021 to 2022.
