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...
Virginia House and Senate Advance Bills to Abolish Death Penalty
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...
Amended Bill to Limit Solitary Confinement Heads to Senate Floor
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...
Virginia Senate Committee Rejects Hate Crime Expansion Bill
Sen. Ghazala Hashmi's bill to expand hate crimes to include crimes based on perception -- which would have had the effect of protecting gender expression, not covered under current hate crime statutes -- failed in the Virginia state Senate after backlash from both...
Lawmakers Advance Voting Rights Act of Virginia
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,...
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