With a major cannabis bill now awaiting Governor Abigail Spanberger’s decision, Virginia hemp retailers, farmers, and small business advocates are urging her to step in before it becomes law. The Cannabis Small Business Association (CSBA) and a coalition of hemp...
Inmates in Virginia correctional centers have been approved to receive COVID vaccines, but a disorganized rollout has led to confusion and a lack of information about when vaccines will actually be coming. Jillian Floyd hasn’t seen her son in a year. She is one of many Virginia prisoners experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic in Virginia’s...
The General Assembly has made progress on police reform in Virginia, but for advocates and progressive legislators, passing reform of qualified immunity is an essential piece of the puzzle. Virginia has made headlines in recent months for criminal justice reform measures but advocates say more needs to be done. They are disappointed that...
Governor Northam has voiced his support for abolishing the death penalty in Virginia, and now both houses of the General Assembly have voted in favor of abolishing it as well. After over 400 years of conducting more executions than any other state, Virginia may become the first Southern state to abolish the death penalty. The Virginia Senate and...
David Smith remembers dancing to music in his head and having conversations with television shows during 16 months in solitary confinement at Norfolk City Jail. “Your mind plays tricks on you,” Smith said. “There was a slow disconnect with reality. I didn’t recognize the pain that was happening in me, nor did I have the emotional strength...
Ongoing concerns over voter suppression, intimidation, and discrimination at the polls led Del. Cia Price to introduce a bill modeled on the Federal Voting Rights Act of 1965. This week, it was passed in the House of Delegates. On the first day of Black History Month, legislators advanced a bill to help ensure voter protection for Virginia...
Both houses of the General Assembly have advanced bills intended to speed the spread of COVID-19 vaccines by allowing more health care providers to deliver them. The Virginia House and Senate have unanimously advanced separate bills to facilitate administration of the COVID-19 vaccine. House Bill 2333, introduced by Del. Lamont Bagby,...
Princess Blanding, a prominent public safety, mental health and racial justice advocate, has announced her campaign to run for Governor of Virginia in 2021. Blanding has entered the race as the candidate of the newly-formed Liberation Party, which will compete as an independent party in the November 2021 election. Blanding is the sister of the...
After signing a bill into law that decriminalized marijuana earlier this year, Governor Ralph Northam formally voiced his support for fully legalizing marijuana in Virginia next year. This is welcome news both for civil rights advocates and cannabis enthusiasts in the Commonwealth. Recreational marijuana use may be legal in Virginia by 2021 --...
Recently, two different Latina members of the General Assembly, Hala Ayala and Elizabeth Guzmán, have announced their candidacies for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia; if either is elected, they would be the first Latina woman to hold the office. Hala Ayala and Elizabeth Guzmán, two delegates who represent Prince William County, have formally...
