Va. OKs bill to let violent crime victims meet with death row inmates

from Dena Potter's story on wtvr.com:

Lorraine Whoberry tried for years to meet face-to-face with her daughter's killer before he was executed last month. She was repeatedly denied.

So the day after she witnessed his execution, Whoberry sat down with Gov. Bob McDonnell and asked for his help. A bill was making its way through the Virginia General Assembly that would allow victims of violent crime to meet with the perpetrators, but it excluded those on death row and juveniles.

McDonnell amended the bill to allow victims to meet with inmates on death row. On Wednesday, the General Assembly unanimously approved the change.

Although more than half of the states have victim-offender mediation programs, advocates said Virginia would be one of the first to cement it in state law. Virginia also becomes one of only a handful that allow meetings with death row inmates.

“Even though it's not going to affect us, at least we've got something done,” Whoberry said when told about the change.

Apr 27, 2010 Dialogue, Region: North America and Caribbean, Offender, Victim, Prison, Country:USA

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