Virginia lawmakers seem intent to finally abolish the death penalty in the state, with two new bills already introduced that would bring an end to the practice here.

HB 1779 was introduced by Delegate Lee Carter, while SB 1165 was introduced by Scott A. Surovell in the Senate.

Governor Northam himself has said he will introduce such a bill, and in his recent state of the commonwealth address said about the practice, “What if the system gets it wrong? If you think it can’t happen, you’re wrong. It can happen, and it has happened, here in Virginia. Remember the case of Earl Washington. In 1984, he was convicted of capital murder. He spent 18 years in prison in Virginia, including 9 ½ of them on death row. But he didn’t do it. By the early 2000s, the technology behind DNA evidence showed that he was innocent. In the time it took to get the right people to look at that evidence, this innocent man came within nine days of being executed.”

In total 35 of the 193 United Nations countries still make use of capital punishment, and in the US twenty-eight states still have capital punishment on the books. Virginia presently has two prisoners on death row, and their sentences would likely be changed to life in prison (without the possibility of parole) by any bill that passed. The last time someone was sentenced to capital punishment in Virginia was in the year 2011.