The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports today that Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell opposes the call by the American Bar Association (ABA) for a halt on executions. The ABA asserts that there are flaws in the nation’s death penalty systems, while McDonnell spokesman J. Tucker Martin says that McDonnell believes the death penalty is constitutional and effective. Richard Bonnie, a UVA law professor who recently received the University’s prestigious Thomas Jefferson Award for his work in mental health law, told the Dispatch that the ABA’s study "reveals that there is still quite widespread concern about the fairness of capital punishment adjudication and sentencing practices across the country." Executions have been put on hold throughout the nation since a challenge of lethal injection procedures reached the Supreme Court on September 25.
 UVA law professor and Thomas Jefferson Award recipient Richard Bonnie, center, says that capital punishment is a point of concern across the U.S. |