“The newly enhanced secrecy behind Virginia’s capital punishment protocols underscores a legacy of death born in institutionalized racism that upcoming executions — including that of Ivan Teleguz, scheduled April 25 — do not just prolong, but exacerbate.
“In March 1879, after years of tolerating party atmospheres accompanying the public executions of blacks, Virginia first moved to shroud its execution process in secrecy after almost 1,000 revelers gathered after the hanging of two young black men at New Kent Courthouse for a grand “Gallows Ball” that lasted until daybreak.”