Virginia does not forbid the execution of the mentally...

Virginia does not forbid the execution of the mentally retarded or juvenile offenders but does have life without parole. A jury decides the sentence. The Governor has full authority to grant clemency. The Governor also has the power to commute a death sentence to life imprisonment without the consent of the convict. Virginia's death penalty has slowed the state's usually speedy system to a crawl. Though Virginia executed 14 people in 1999 and eight in 2000, only one person has been put to death this year, and no other executions are scheduled.