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Great New Books on Organizing:

For the first time since 1983, no executions were carried out in the Commonwealth of Virginia during 2005.

Robin Lovitt was scheduled to die in the execution chamber at the Greensville Prison in Jarratt on November 30, but Governor Mark Warner commuted his sentence to life in prison without parole.

“The Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (VADP) encourages Virginians to take the time to send a note of thanks to the governor for this act of clemency,” said Jack Payden-Travers, VADP director.

Thousands of letters were sent to the governor on behalf of Mr. Lovitt through the efforts of VADP, Amnesty International, and the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. On November 29 VADP members went to see Governor Warner and hand deliver over 500 letters from Virginians requesting him to commute the death sentence.

Had the governor not intervened, Mr. Lovitt would have become the 1,000th victim of state killing in the United States since 1977. Instead the dubious distinction of executing the 1,000th prisoner was passed on to North Carolina when Kenneth Lee Boyd was killed by lethal injection in Raleigh on December 1. VADP members were there to protest.

As December 1 was the anniversary of Rosa Parks’ refusal to “move to the back of the bus” which precipitated the Montgomery Bus Boycott, 17 persons participated in the Rosa Parks Affinity Group which attempted to enter the N.C. State Prison to prevent the execution of Mr. Boyd. VADP members Kate Ranganath and Jack Payden-Travers were part of this nonviolent civil disobedience action and return to Raleigh for trial in January 2006.

“The USA has wasted over two billion dollars ($2,000,000,000.00) to execute 1,000 men and women since 1977,” Payden-Travers said. “We need to make certain that we never see the 1,500th execution. What could we do to prevent crime if the billions wasted on executions were put into our communities for mental health, drug rehabilitation, education, and restorative justice programs?”

“It is time for Virginians to tell our neighbors and legislators we have had enough killing. It is time for Virginia to enact a moratorium on executions,” Payden-Travers said.

Contact VADP to learn what you can do in 2006 to help end the death penalty in Virginia. Call their toll free number 888-567-VADP (8237) or visit www.VADP.org.