Sponsoring Organizations

The mission of National Alliance on Mental Illness - Virginia is to promote recovery

and improve the quality of life of Virginians with serious mental illness through support,
education, and advocacy. NAMI Virginia envisions a world where all people affected
by mental illness get the help, hope, and support that they need. Begun first as a loose
federation of a few like-minded local groups seeking a national presence for federal-level
advocacy, NAMI has grown to become the largest grassroots mental health advocacy group
in the nation. NAMI strives to epitomize the very concepts of recovery and resiliency
that it supports: we are empowered, holistic, strength-based, respectful, responsible, and
person-centered. Above all, NAMI represents hope. NAMI harnesses the considerable
passion of thousands of local volunteers who are dedicated to transforming Americas
experience and understanding of serious mental illness.

Addressing Severe
Mental Illness and the
Death Penalty in Virginia

http://www.namivirginia.org
https://www.facebook.com/NAMIVirginia1

The American Bar Associations Death Penalty Due Process Review Project conducts
research and educates the public and decision-makers on the operation of capital
jurisdictions death penalty laws and processes in order to promote fairness and accuracy
in death penalty systems. The Project raises awareness of the flaws in the administration
of the death penalty and through our advocacy and educational efforts, seeks to engender
a climate where law and policy reform are possible. The Project encourages adoption
of the ABAs Protocols on the Fair Administration of the Death Penalty; assists state,
federal, and international stakeholders on policy issues; and develops new initiatives to
support reform of death penalty processes. One of those critical new areas is our Severe
Mental Illness Initiative, which was established in 2015 to serve as a national resource
for lawyers, organizations, and policy makers interested in learning more about the issues
surrounding serious mental illness and capital punishment and to support policy reform
efforts to exempt individuals with severe mental illness from the death penalty.

http://www.americanbar.org/dueprocess
https://twitter.com/ABAdueprocess

Monday, August 15, 2016

Richmond, VA

About the Program

Panelists

In Virginia, individuals living with severe mental illness can still be sentenced
to death and executed, despite a growing consensus that these defendants are
not the worst of the worst murderers for whom the death penalty is intended.
U.S. law has already recognized that both juvenile defendants and individuals
with intellectual disabilities should not be subject to capital punishment in
light of their diminished culpability, capacity to appreciate the nature of their
conduct, or ability to control their behavior, but such an exemption from the
ultimate punishment has not yet been afforded to individuals living with severe
mental illnesses (SMI) that were present at the time of their crimes. Although
leading organizations, including NAMI and the ABA, as well as a majority of
the American public, now oppose the use of capital punishment for those
with mental illness, Virginia does not currently have an SMI exemption in its
criminal law. This panel will offer background on SMI generally, why current
laws do not provide sufficient protection, the rationales for an exemption from
the death penalty, and why mental health allies and experts are vital leaders in
the reform efforts.

Richard J. Bonnie, J.D., Harrison Foundation Professor of Medicine and Law,

University of Virginia School of Law

If you want to keep up with our work or

follow Live-Tweets of this event, follow
@abadueprocess and use #smiexemption
or #deathpenalty to join the discussion!

Special Thanks
Alexandra Fannon of the Greater Richmond Bar Foundation
Neil Kessler, Stephen Northup, and Fran Smith of Troutman Sanders LLP
and
Stephany Melton Hardison, Alli Kielsgard, Aurlie Tabuteau Mangels,
Laura Schaefer, Megan Sharkey, and Michael Stone

Among other positions, Professor Bonnie has been associate director of the National Commission on Marihuana
and Drug Abuse (1971-73); secretary of the first National Advisory Council on Drug Abuse (1975- 80); chair
of Virginias State Human Rights Committee responsible for protecting rights of persons with mental disabilities
(1979-85), chief advisor for the ABA Criminal Justice Mental Health Standards Project (1981-88) and chair of
the Commission on Mental Health Law Reform established by the chief justice of Virginia (2006-11). Bonnie has
served as an advisor to the American Psychiatric Association Council on Psychiatry and Law since 1979, received
the APAs Isaac Ray Award in 1998 for contributions to the field of forensic psychiatry, and was awarded a special
presidential commendation in 2003 for his contributions to American psychiatry. In 1991, Professor Bonnie was
elected to the National Academy of Medicine. He has chaired numerous National Academy studies on subjects
ranging from elder mistreatment to underage drinking, including the landmark report, Ending the Tobacco Problem:
A Blueprint for the Nation (2007). Most recently, he chaired major studies on juvenile justice reform (20013) and
the health and well-being of young adults (2014). He received the Yarmolinsky Medal in 2002 for his contributions
to the National Academies and was elected to the America Law Institute in 2014.

James S. Reinhard, M.D., Medical Director/Associate Director, Virginia Tech/Cook

Counseling Center and former Commissioner of DBHDS
James Reinhard, M.D. is a board certified psychiatrist with fellowship training at Harvard Medical Schools Program
in Psychiatry and the Law and additional board certification in Forensic Psychiatry. Dr. Reinhard received his
medical degree from the University of Illinois College of Medicine and completed his psychiatry residency at
Dartmouth Medical School where he later joined the faculty and received an Attending of the Year Award from
the psychiatry residents. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and has served
on the Executive Board of the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors. He has been a
board member for the Council of State Governments Justice Center and the Steering Committee for the National
Suicide Prevention Lifeline. After leaving Dartmouth in 1994, Dr. Reinhard came to Virginia as medical director
and then the facility director/CEO of Catawba Hospital. In 2001 he became Assistant Commissioner for Facility
Management for Virginias Department of Mental Health. In 2002 he was appointed Commissioner of the Virginia
public mental health system by then Governor Warner and re-appointed by Governor Kaine in 2006. Dr. Reinhard
is currently medical director at Virginia Techs university counseling center and also provides psychiatric services at
the Cumberland Mountain Community Services Board as well as forensic and other psychiatric evaluations through
his consultation practice.

Mira Signer, MSW, Executive Director, NAMI Virginia

Ms. Signer joined NAMI Virginia as the Executive Director in July 2007. She received her Masters in Social
Work-Administration, Planning, and Policy Practice from Virginia Commonwealth University and a Certificate in
Nonprofit Management from VCU. In 2011 Ms. Signer was recognized as one of Style Weeklys Top 40 Under 40. She
received her undergraduate degree from James Madison University where she was a varsity student-athlete and active
in JMUs Community Service-Learning program. Ms. Signer recently received the 2016 NAMI Executive Director
Councils Leadership Award. Ms. Signer is originally from Arlington, Virginia.

Moderator
Misty C. Thomas, J.D., Director, American Bar Association Death Penalty Due
Process Review Project
Ms. Thomas directs the Death Penalty Due Process Review Project, which conducts research and educates the public
and decision-makers on the operation of capital jurisdictions laws and processes in order to promote fairness and
accuracy in the death penalty. Previously, she was a senior housing attorney at the Washington Legal Clinic for
the Homeless, where she represented homeless individuals and low-income tenants and advocated for poverty and
housing law reform. Before that, Ms. Thomas was Howrey LLPs Pro Bono Fellow, representing clients in a range of
civil and criminal matters, including state appeals, post-conviction matters and trials, and mentoring other lawyers at
the firm in their pro bono practices. Prior to law school, Ms. Thomas was the Executive Director of the Mid-Atlantic
Innocence Project. She is a graduate of both Claremont McKenna College and Georgetown University Law Center,
where she currently teaches as an adjunct professor of law.