On The Front Lines
Rutherford Institute Urges Gov. McDonnell to Reconsider Virginia’s Death Penalty Policy, Stop Jackson Execution
Rutherford Institute Urges Gov. McDonnell to Reconsider Virginia’s Death Penalty Policy, Stop Jackson Execution
RICHMOND, Va.— Voicing the concern that Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell is doing a great disservice to those whom he has been charged to represent through his staunch support of the death penalty—particularly those elements of our society who are most in need of reformative justice, John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute, is calling on the governor to reconsider Virginia's policy on the death penalty. Specifically, Whitehead has asked McDonnell to commute to life in prison the death sentence of 30-year-old Jerry Terrell Jackson, who is scheduled to be put to death on August 18, 2011, for the 2001 rape and murder of 88-year-old Ruth Philips of Williamsburg, Va. If executed, Jackson will become the 109th person to be executed by the Commonwealth of Virginia since 1982.
Whitehead's letter to McDonnell is available here.
"There is no doubt that Jerry Terrell Jackson deserves to be punished for his heinous crime," stated Whitehead. "However, whether or not Jackson deserves to die, that particular judgment should be left in the hands of God and not the already powerful secular state, which seems to have a hard enough time keeping its own critical affairs of state in order without adding matters of life and death to the mix."
Since taking office, Gov. McDonnell's staunch support for the death penalty—colored by his experiences as a former prosecutor, member of the General Assembly, member of the Virginia State Crime Commission and attorney general—has resulted in his repeated refusal to grant clemency and intervene in the executions of Teresa Lewis (a woman who was borderline mentally-handicapped when she was put to death in September 2010), Paul Warner Powell and Darick Demorris Walker. In calling on McDonnell to reconsider his stance on capital punishment, Whitehead pointed out that the death penalty is not a fiscally responsible policy in that it is far more expensive than a life sentence, provides no deterrent effect on violent crime, and erodes the United States' standing on the international stage as a protector of human rights.
Insisting that justice will not be served by executing Terrell Jackson, Whitehead points out that Jackson, himself a victim of child abuse, was also subjected to attorney negligence during his trial, as well as a criminal justice system marked by racial and economic inequality. These disparities were recognized in 2010 when a federal judge agreed that Jackson was entitled to a new sentencing hearing, but the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the ruling on a technicality in April 2011. Jackson's attorneys have appealed that ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, requesting a stay of execution. His attorneys insist that the jury in Jackson's trial was not given a complete picture of the abuse he suffered as a child, which might have convinced jurors to spare his life.
8/15/11 UPDATE: Gov. McDonnell announced on Friday, August 12, that he will not intervene to stay the execution of Terrell Jackson. “After conferring with the appropriate parties, as well as thoroughly reviewing the clemency petition and the judicial opinions in this case, I find no compelling reason to set aside the sentence of the jury, imposed and affirmed by the courts,” McDonnell said.
