Virginia’s long-running effort to build a regulated cannabis marketplace has hit a new turning point this legislative session. Since adult possession became legal in 2021, lawmakers and stakeholders have spent years negotiating a retail framework to replace the...
On International Women's Day, Rachel Scott Everett and Altimese Nichole point out the importance of acting to create the racial and gender equity we need more of in the world -- a movement in which Girls For A Change are at the forefront. What does leadership look like in our country? What does it look like in our community? Local nonprofit Girls...
Bills abolishing the death penalty within the Commonwealth have passed both houses of the General Assembly, and Governor Ralph Northam has already expressed his support. His signature will make Virginia the 23rd state to abolish the death penalty. Virginia will become the 23rd state to abolish the death penalty after two bills passed both...
The Consumer Data Protection Act would allow Virginians to obtain all data collected about them by companies, as well as to opt out of having their data collected. It has moved forward in both houses of the General Assembly. The General Assembly is advancing legislation that allows Virginia consumers more protection with their online data, though...
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...
Dismantling the Confederacy's legacy as one of the most ubiquitous brands in American history is not easy. But, as Rachel Scott Everett writes, progress is finally being made. On July 1, 2020, I stood with hundreds of masked observers to witness history in my hometown of Richmond, Virginia: the official removal of the first Confederate statue in...
