Richard Bonnie on Virginia’s New Law Abolishing the Death Penalty

Following the signing into law of new legislation abolishing Virginia’s death penalty, UVA Law explores the work of Richard J. Bonnie, who represented four of the first five prisoners that sat on Virginia’s death row following its reinstatement in 1976. Bonnie became a leading expert, providing casebook material on the death penalty’s jurisprudence.

In 1992, Virginia formed the Virginia Capital Representation Resource Center to help death row prisoners secure competent counsel and educate attorneys on capital litigation. Even after ending his career as a capital litigator, Bonnie continued to consult with lawyers representing capital defendants on legal issues and ethical dilemmas.

Bonnie serves as an Associate Reporter on Restatement of the Law, Children and the Law. He teaches both law and medicine at the University of Virginia, serving as the Director of the Institute of Law, Psychiatry and Public Policy and the Harrison Foundation Professor of Medicine and Law. He also teaches public policy, psychiatry, and neurobehavioral sciences.

Learn more about Bonnie’s work here.

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