Bill Introduced for 2020 Virginia General Assembly that could abolish the death penalty

A bill has been introduced for the 2020 Virginia General Assembly that could abolish the death penalty, including for those that have already received a death penalty sentence.

The bill, introduced by delegates Lee Carter and Kaye Kory, would amend statutes in the Code of Virginia by removing references to the punishment of death for class 1 felonies and other related statutes. If passed, any offender convicted of a class 1 felony offense on or after July 1st, 2020 would receive a punishment of life in prison without the possibility of parole, and inmates already serving a death penalty sentence would have their sentence changed.

Locally, prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty in the case against James Michael Wright, a Washington County, Virginia man accused of killing three women in March of this year. More information about the proposal is available here.

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