Michael Mullin Archives

Governor Northam has voiced his support for abolishing the death penalty in Virginia, and now both houses of the General Assembly have voted in favor of abolishing it as well.

After over 400 years of conducting more executions than any other state, Virginia may become the first Southern state to abolish the death penalty.

The Virginia Senate and the House of Delegates each passed identical bills this week to abolish the death penalty. Virginia would become the 23rd state to abolish capital punishment if either bill advances in the other’s chamber and is signed by the governor.

Under current state law, an offender convicted of a Class 1 felony who is at least 18 years of age at the time of the offense and without an intellectual disability faces a sentence of life imprisonment or death.

The House and Senate bills eliminate death from the list of possible punishments for a Class 1 felony. The bills do not allow the possibility of parole, good conduct allowance, or earned sentence credits. Judges are able to suspend part of life sentences, with the exception of the murder of a law enforcement officer.

Senate Bill 1165, introduced by Sen. Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, passed the Senate on a 21-17 vote. House Bill 2263, introduced by Del. Mike Mullin, D-Newport News, passed the House Friday on a 57-41 vote. Three Republicans supported the House measure.

Any person previously sentenced to death by July 1 will have their sentence changed to life imprisonment without eligibility for parole, good conduct allowance, or earned sentence credits. According to the House bill’s impact statement, there are two Virginia inmates on death row, but no execution date has been set for these inmates as of December.

In a floor hearing earlier this week, Mullin discussed how the measure would ultimately save money, as the death penalty is a “huge financial burden on the commonwealth.” Virginia spends approximately $3.9 million annually to maintain four capital defender offices, which only handles capital cases, according to the House bill’s fiscal impact statement. The measure will likely eliminate the need for these offices.

“If we keep the death penalty in place, we are prolonging an expensive, ineffective, and flawed system,” Mullin said.

Mullin said Virginia has a dark history of extreme racial bias and occasional false convictions within the judicial system.

Referencing the 1985 case of Earl Washington, Mullin argued the commonwealth “knows the risks of killing an innocent person very well.” Washington, a wrongfully convicted death row inmate, came within nine days of his execution.

“Perhaps the strongest argument for abolishing the death penalty is that a justice system without the death penalty allows us the possibility of being wrong,” Mullin said.

In a debate during Friday’s House vote, defenders of the death penalty called attention to the victims of capital cases. Del. Jason S. Miyares, R-Virginia Beach, told his colleagues that “these victims are begging not to be forgotten.” He argued that executing those who commit the “ultimate crimes” is justice, not vengeance.

“That’s what the death penalty is … it’s not revenge, it’s not eye for an eye, it’s our society, our civilization, holding someone accountable for their actions, allowing our juries to decide about the ultimate punishment,” Miyares said.

Del. Mark H. Levine, D-Alexandria, a supporter of the bill, concluded the debate by speaking of his own painful experience. Speaking of his sister’s murder, Levine argued that the bill isn’t about him, his sister, or the victims, but about the state’s potential to kill innocent people.

“I’ve seen evil, I’ve looked it in the face,” Levine said. “I know evil exists, there is no dispute about that. But taking an innocent person’s life — that’s evil, and it would be evil to be done by this General Assembly.”

Gov. Ralph Northam said in a press release earlier this week that he looks forward to signing the bill into law.

“The practice is fundamentally inequitable,” Northam said. “It is inhumane. It is ineffective. And we know that in some cases, people on death row have been found innocent.”

Written by Christina Amano Dolan, Capital News Service. Top Photo courtesy of the Virginia General Assembly website.

Less than 15 percent of Virginia hospitals have the ability to conduct sexual assault exams. Several legislators hope to change that and offer better care and protections for sexual assault victims in the Commonwealth.

A House subcommittee advanced a bill Wednesday to establish a statewide program to train nurses who treat sexual assault survivors, something that supporters say is crucial to how Virginia deals with sexual violence.

At a press conference hosted earlier in the day, lawmakers and sexual assault survivors said that there aren’t enough resources for victims of sexual assault. House Bill 475, introduced by Del. Michael Mullin, D-Newport News, would expand the capabilities and training of sexual assault nurse examiners, nurses certified to conduct a forensic exam and provide court testimony. It also would provide protocols for how hospitals treat sexual assault survivors.

The bill proposes that every hospital in Virginia have such a nurse examiner on staff.

“There are lots of parts of the commonwealth that an hour drive would be a short one,” said Mullin. “If you are living in Southwest Virginia, and if you need to be able to see one of these certified examiners, it might be a three, four or seven hour wait before you are seen and that is entirely unacceptable.”

Mullin was joined by Sen. R. Creigh Deeds, D-Bath, who introduced Senate companion bill SB 373, and Del. Karrie K. Delaney, D-Fairfax, who sponsored HB 808. Delaney’s bill stipulates that if a hospital does not staff a forensic examiner or nurse examiner it would be responsible for transporting the patient to a location that offers rape kits and other services, including after care options. Her bill advanced to committee earlier this week.

Virginia has 16 out of 122 hospitals provide sexual assault exams, according to a report commissioned by Delaney. As a result, Delaney said, victims of sexual assault often arrive at the closest hospital or medical center only to be told that they must go to another location.

“Virginia still has a lot of work that needs to be done to continue to improve and establish laws that are better able to protect victims of domestic violence and sexual assault,” Delaney said.

The report also noted that out of almost 94,000 registered nurses in Virginia, a small portion (96-155) are sexual assault nurse examiners. Several sexual assault survivors spoke of the need for more forensic nurse examiners so that future victims won’t endure more hardships than they already have.

“I want you imagine that on your worst day, you find the courage and physical strength to get yourself to a hospital to report your sexual assault,” said Rebecca Courtright, a sexual assault survivor from Powhatan. “Then you arrive only to find that the hospital doesn’t have the ability to collect a rape kit, how would you feel?”

Courtright said a certified nurse examiner gave her the tools and support to move on from her assault. She was grateful for the nurse’s care and the nurse’s court testimony against Courtright’s attacker.

“If a victim comes to turn her body over for evidence, and there is no one there to collect that evidence, it’s devastating,” Courtright said later in the day, during the subcommittee hearing of the bill. “If there is someone there it could mean the difference between her committing suicide and her actually reporting and us putting away that rapist.”

Mullin’s bill creates a sexual assault forensic nurse examiner program, referred to as SANE, led by a coordinator who reports annually to the governor and General Assembly. Among the responsibilities of the coordinator would be to establish nurse examiner training programs in partnership with state officials and agencies, including the Attorney General and Department of Health, among others.

The program will develop hospital protocols and guidelines to treat sexual assault victims. Suggested training to certify sexual assault nurse examiners includes two years of emergency or critical care experience, 41 additional hours of online and classroom training, and 40 hours of clinical experience under the guidance of a physician, advanced practical nurse, or exisiting certified forenisc nurse examiner.

The bill also outlines other technical responsibilities for the coordinator, such as strengthening other programs and creating best practices for billing sexual assault survivors. The program coordinator would create a list of resources that includes treatment locations to share with medical and law enforcement professionals, in an effort to streamline assistance for victims.

There would also be recruitment efforts and materials geared toward nursing students to help meet the necessary requirements if the bill is passed into law.

A House subcommittee, chaired by Mullin, unanimously recommended the bill with an amendment. It now heads to the Committee on Appropriations for further review.

Written by Chip Lauterbach, Capital News Service. Photos via VCU-CNS

Virginia House and Senate Advance Bills to Abolish Death Penalty

Sexual Assault Survivors Ask Lawmakers to Expand Resources