Virginia becomes first Southern state to abolish death penalty christianpost.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from christianpost.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
February 23, 2021
RICHMOND, Va. – A stoke of the pen is all that is left for the abolition of executions in Virginia. A bill to do away the death penalty won final approval in the Virginia Senate Monday and now heads to Gov. Ralph Northam, who has said he will sign it.
The measure would make Virginia the first Southern state to abandon capital punishment.
State lawmakers gave final approval to the bill Monday, a dramatic turnaround for a state that has executed more people in its long history than any other.
The legislation would make Virginia the 23rd state to stop executions.
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Virginia state lawmakers on Monday officially voted in favor of legislation that will end the death penalty in the state, making the commonwealth the 23rd state to do so.
“It is vital that our criminal justice system operates fairly and punishes people equitably,” Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam, House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn and Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw said in a joint statement Monday. “We all know the death penalty doesn’t do that. It is inequitable, ineffective, and inhumane.”
“Over Virginia’s long history, this Commonwealth has executed more people than any other state. And, like many other states, Virginia has come too close to executive an innocent person. It’s time we stop this machinery of death.”
By SARAH RANKINFebruary 22, 2021 GMT
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) Virginia lawmakers advanced a new version of bipartisan school-reopening legislation Monday, moving to tighten the requirements for in-person instruction that districts must offer in the next school year.
The lawmakers negotiating the bill said the latest version aims to require school districts grappling with the pandemic to offer a full-time, in-person option for students, with limited exceptions. If a school has high levels of coronavirus transmission, it could temporarily revert to virtual learning under the measure, said the lawmakers, a Democrat who is a teacher and a Republican who is a doctor.
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