A decade ago, the murder of her older daughter and rape of her younger sent Lorraine Reed Whoberry down an uncertain path. Tomorrow, it will lead to “L Unit” at the Greensville Correctional Center, also known as the death house, where Paul Warner Powell is set to die in the electric chair for the 1999 capital murder of Stacie Lynn Reed, 16, of Prince William County.

If adopted, a proposal to keep the names of jurors confidential, at least from the public, in all criminal trials apparently would make Virginia unique in the country. It is not clear if a defendant in Virginia ever has harmed a juror. That possibility is one of the concerns behind a law the General Assembly passed last year. That law permits judges to keep jurors’ identifying information secret from all but the lawyers in a case—even from the defendant—when a judge finds good cause there is a “likelihood” of bribery, tampering, or physical injury or harassment to jurors.