Father Griffin,
     I believe that the reason Capital Punishment is still acceptable in Virginia is that it is seen more as a deterrent than as a punishment.  Most of the types of people who commit capital crimes already place such a low value on human life (even their own), that the threat of execution is lost on them.  For those types, life without parole would serve the same purpose - to remove them from society.  But it is the threat of execution, that deters the majority of criminals from killing people in Virginia.  We don't execute criminals to punish them for killing our citizens, but rather we execute capital criminals to prevent other criminals from killing our citizens.  The State of Virginia doesn't take lives, she saves lives!
.................JJS