Wrong direction for the death penalty

Sen. Mark Obenshain is once again pushing a proposal to expand Virginia's use of capital punishment by doing away with the so-called "triggerman rule."

The move comes despite the state's reputation for putting to death more people - 108 - than any other state except Texas since 1976.

The bill is an unfortunate piece of legislation that, if history is any indicator, would ultimately cost taxpayers more and do little or nothing to deter crime.

Worse, it's not needed. Exceptions to the triggerman rule already exist, as the Teresa Lewis case and others have shown.

Lewis plotted and facilitated the killings of her husband and stepson in 2002 in a bid for insurance money. The circumstances of the case were horrific, and Lewis played a significant role in the murders. But she didn't pull the trigger.

The men who did received life sentences. Lewis was executed last year.

Unfortunately, Obenshain's proposal could open the door to more instances in which defendants who never pulled the trigger end up on death row. Such an outcome highlights the arbitrary nature of the death penalty and increases the risk of an innocent person being mistakenly condemned.

It also ignores the fact that capital cases are extremely costly to the state, dragging on for months and nearly always mired for years in the appeals process.

Last year, when the same proposal was made in the General Assembly, the state's former chief executioner was among those who spoke against expanding the death penalty. Jerry Givens oversaw 62 executions between 1982 and 1999 and concluded that more death simply wasn't the answer.

Life in prison without parole is a severe but humane punishment, an option that more states are choosing. Last year, 46 inmates were executed across the U.S., down slightly from 2009. It marked a considerable drop from 1999, when 98 people were executed, the most since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976.

In recent years, New Mexico and New Jersey have repealed the death penalty. And last month, lawmakers in Illinois sent a bill abolishing capital punishment to the governor. It's awaiting his signature.

Virginian Pilot