On Martin Luther King Day, the Virginia Alliance to End the Juvenile Death Penalty held a lobbying day and rally at the State Capitol in Richmond to get the General Assembly to raise the age of eligibility for the death penalty (it is currently 16 in Virginia). The Alliance is composed of 35 civil liberties, religious, and children's groups that oppose the execution of juveniles.
The Virginian-Pilot has a poll (http://home.hamptonroads.com/pollNews/poll2.cfm) on whether the Virginia General Assembly should raise the minimum age for the death penalty to 18. The poll is currently tied and we need to change those numbers! Vote in the poll!
If you want to know more about our fight against the death penalty in Virginia, read the following articles:
http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=80712&ran=84593
http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2005/012005/01182005/1640401
Let's join forces to defeat the death penalty, both in Virginia and throughout the USA!