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‘Heavy Hand Of Law’ Isn’t Needed In VA Schools, Advocates Say

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Virginia schools still rely heavily on law enforcement to discipline students and years of efforts to lessen the practice could be halted with recent legislation, according to juvenile justice advocates and some state lawmakers. 

“Sometimes the heavy hand of the law is not what’s needed,” said James Fedderman, president of the Virginia Education Association. “What’s needed sometimes is a strong hand of encouragement and direction.”

Schools need to invest in “wraparound services” that prioritize help over punishments, Fedderman said. For example, the National Association of Education created the Community Schools Model to assist students who live in under-resourced homes and to offer help in the communities where these students live, he said. Under the model, schools offer or refer people to before- and after-school care, food and medical services.

Virginia was ranked highest in the nation for referring students to law enforcement, based on 2017-18 data analyzed by the Center for Public Integrity, an independent nonprofit news organization. Over 18,000 total Virginia students were referred to law enforcement from 2017-18 according to the DOE data. The analysis is sourced from the most recently available data provided by the U.S. Department of Education. Black students and students with disabilities disproportionately represented the students referred to law enforcement, according to the center’s analysis.

A Virginia Tech analysis of DOE data published in 2015 from the center found only about 2 out of 1,000 students were required to appear before a court intake officer. The referral rate can be difficult to interpret based on how schools report the data, according to the Tech study. 

Sen. Jennifer McClellan. Photo by Susan Shibut.

Lawmakers have examined discipline issues for seven years

Former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced the Classrooms not Courtrooms initiative in 2015, in an effort to reform school discipline. 

The initiative was a push to reduce student referrals to law enforcement and decrease suspensions and expulsions. Multiple agencies were encouraged to address the practices statistics showed disproportionately impact Black students and students with disabilities, and to address the emphasis on subjective offenses like disorderly conduct.

Two years ago, students could be charged with disorderly conduct, a Class 1 misdemeanor, for causing inconveniences, annoyances or alarm. Disorderly conduct has drawn Black students into the criminal justice system more than students of other races in Virginia schools, according to a study from the Legal Aid Justice Center.

“A middle school student was charged with disorderly conduct for singing a rap song on a bus and a middle school student was charged for kicking a trash can on his way to the principal’s office,” said Sen. Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond. “So, it almost seemed like behavior that someone found annoying, they charged them with disorderly conduct.”

Juvenile justice advocates also stated in the study that disorderly conduct laws find their strongest roots in the public order laws that fueled policing in the Jim Crow South — the racial caste system that kept African Americans as second class citizens, promoted anti-Black sentiments and maintained laws that enforced segregation. 

McClellan sponsored Senate Bill 3 with some bipartisan support in 2020. The bill eliminated charging K-12 students with disorderly conduct charges while on school property, buses or at school sponsored activities. 

Ashley Moore, attorney for the Youth Justice Program at The Virginia Legal Aid Justice Center, said lawmakers made some “great progress” to chip away at the issue.

“That disorderly conduct bill is actually a major step forward for children of color, and children with disabilities historically who were disproportionately harmed by the school discipline and policing,” Moore said.

Disorderly conduct can still go on the student’s school record. Over 1,000 students were reported for disorderly conduct in the 2020-21 school year, or 8% of all student incidents reported. There were over 16,000 students reported the year before, or 10% of all student incidents. The 2020-21 school years is the most recent data available, and the pandemic affected enrollment during both years. 

McClellan also introduced the 2020 bill loosening the requirement that student misdemeanors be reported to law enforcement, though felonies would still be reported. 

“What my bill in 2020 says was that felonies will be reported to law enforcement,” McClellan said. “All misdemeanors will still be reported to parents, but the principal will have discretion as to whether it’s something that should be referred to law enforcement or not.”

Advocates think recent legislative measures will undo years of effort. The governor signed two recent measures passed by lawmakers. 

Recent measures

Del. Scott Wyatt, R-Hanover, introduced House Bill 4. Sen. Thomas Norment, R- Williamsburg, introduced the identical bill, which will allow school principals to report some misdemeanor offenses of students. Norment said during a committee meeting that his bill was designed just to add better structure to McClellan’s 2020 bill on reporting school incidents. 

Not all lawmakers agreed. Sen. Mamie Locke, D-Hampton, objected to Norment’s bill during its committee hearing.

“I care about the school-to-prison pipeline and what this does is open that back up again,” Locke said. “Those who are going to be reported are Black and Brown children, primarily.”

Norment celebrated the legislative victory in his constituent newsletter, writing that the bill “will require school principals to report misdemeanor offenses.” 

The bills still make reporting misdemeanors to law enforcement optional, but there are objections that how the language is now laid out will prompt more reporting. 

“I think when in doubt, and especially given the political climate, some principals, when in doubt, are going to report even if it’s a minor thing,” McClellan said. 

The General Assembly this year passed HB 873, introduced by Del. Karen Greenhalgh, R-Virginia Beach. The bill originally required school districts to place a school resource officer — law enforcement officers stationed in public schools — in every elementary and secondary school. If a district failed to comply with the legislation they would not receive state grant funding, according to the fiscal statement.

Lawmakers amended the bill and dropped the requirement to have a resource officer in every school. Instead, a designated law enforcement officer will be trained and serve as a liaison for the school administrator in schools without a resource officer.

Disparities with young students, Black students and students with disabilities

Black students accounted for 40% of referrals to law enforcement but make up less than a quarter of the Virginia student population, according to state and federal education department data for the 2017-18 school year.

Students with disabilities account for almost 30% of referrals to law enforcement, and make up 13% of the Virginia student population, according to state and federal education data. 

Hispanic students account for 11% of referrals to law enforcement, and make up 16% of the Virginia student population, according to state and federal education data. 

White students account for 39% of referrals to law enforcement, and they make up 49% of the Virginia student population, according to state and federal education data. 

Virginia middle school students, typically aged 11 to 14 years old, had some of the highest rates of referral in the nation, according to 2015 data analyzed by the Center for Public Integrity. In one case, 228 middle school students per 1,000 students were referred, according to the center. 

Black females represented approximately 11% of Virginia’s school population from 2016-19, but averaged 31% of the school-based disorderly conduct complaints, according to the Legal Aid Justice Center.

“I think part of it is implicit bias that – some people see Black children as more adult than they are, especially with Black girls,” McClellan said.

Black preschool children made up 43.3% of out-of-school suspensions and 18.2% of the school population in the 2017-18 school year, according to DOE data.

Addressing root causes

Advocates question how schools will address the root causes that led to disproportionately charging Black students and students with disabilities, even if lawmakers reduced the number of available charges. Lawmakers and reform advocates say new models are needed.

“Everything is not something that should be reported to the law as an infraction,” Fedderman said. 

Legislation passed in 2020 required local school boards to employ one full-time equivalent school counselor position per 325 students in K-12, effective with the 2021–22 school year. A 2021 law — sponsored by McClellan — called for a $49 million investment to increase student support staff, including nurses, social workers and mental health professionals. The law requires at least three staff for every 1,000 students. 

Schools need to include “counselors and psychologists, not resource officers” to help the youth and meet their needs, said Crystal Shin, a law professor and Director of Holistic Juvenile Defense Clinic at University of Virginia. 

Over 60% of schools surveyed by the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services reported they employed resource officers in 2019-20. Over 90% of middle schools and high schools have officers, DCJS reported. A small percentage are deployed in elementary schools. 

Law enforcement should be used to handle school security not discipline, according to McClellan. 

“I think the problem is that over time, resource officers have been used as counselors when they’re not trained to be counselors,” McClellan said. “They have been used as disciplinarians when they are not trained to understand brain development.” 

Freedom Constellation, “Dreaming of a World Without Youth Prisons,” an interactive mural created to address youth impacted by the prisons and the justice system. Photo courtesy of Tarazha Jenkins.

New models emerge

Some school districts in Virginia replaced resource officers with new safety models and programs. Charlottesville City Schools removed officers from schools in 2020, along with Albemarle County Public Schools. 

Black students made up 34.5% of the Charlottesville City Public Schools student population, but were referred to law enforcement nearly five times more frequently than their white counterparts, according to 2017 data from the Department of Education. Black students accounted for over 63% of referrals. 

CPS school resource officers were replaced with care and safety assistants, who have a similar role, but can not charge students with criminal offenses. The new officials are similar to Albemarle County Public Schools’ student safety coaches, which were hired in 2021.

The Albemarle school coaches are hired to provide a safe school environment and address student discipline. The coaches complete training in trauma-informed interactions, culturally responsive student interaction, mental health first aid, and crisis intervention and de-escalation. They also complete the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services school security officer certification.

“There has to be a school-wide commitment to dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline by not over-relying on suspension and expulsion, and rather, finally get to the root causes of the misbehavior,” Shin said.

Richmond City Public Schools began using the Community in Schools model in 2018 to address dropout rates. This includes monitoring attendance, behavior and course completion. The method was compiled through research of several years and consistently identified the highly predictive factors of dropping out and working to resolve the problem. RPS uses this program to focus on student success with the use of health and social services as well as youth and community development.

Black students made up 69% of the RPS student population, but were 89% of the referrals made to law enforcement, according to 2017 data. 

“I just think it’s important that we invest in kids and keep them in their schools and homes and in their communities,” Shin said.

Written by Safia Abdulahi and Tarazha Jenkins, Capital News Service. Top Photo: Freedom Constellation, “Dreaming of a World Without Youth Prisons,” an interactive mural created to address youth impacted by the prisons and the justice system. Photo courtesy of Tarazha Jenkins.

Virginia Parents Concerned Bill Will Lead To Spike In Student Referral To Police

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The Virginia General Assembly passed legislation that will allow school principals to report some misdemeanor offenses of students to law enforcement, reversing parts of a previous law.

Lawmakers, parents and advocates are concerned the legislation will prompt the overreporting of minor offenses to law enforcement, versus leaving reporting to the discretion of school officials. 

Symone Walker is the mother of two children, one enrolled in Arlington Public Schools. She is also the co-chair of the Arlington NAACP Education Committee and vice chair of the Arlington Special Education Advisory Committee.

Walker worries that Virginia isn’t working fast enough to close up the school-to-prison pipeline, known as harsh disciplinary actions that data show primarily push Black and Latino students out of schools and into jails and prisons. 

“The General Assembly had made some progress in rolling back some really punitive laws that were contributing to the school-to-prison pipeline,” Walker said. 

Previous legislation to undo school-to-prison pipeline

Virginia made headlines with reports that it led the nation in referring students to law enforcement, and it prompted legislative action.

State legislators passed a law in 2020 that school officials did not have to report minor offenses to law enforcement such as disruptive behavior, disorderly conduct and trespassing. They still had to report felonies. 

Lawmakers also passed a bill in 2020 that exempted students from being charged under state law with disorderly conduct — a phrase advocates say is loosely interpreted in the referral process — if it happened on school grounds, on a school bus, or at a school event. 

A Senate committee blocked a Republican-backed measure Friday that would have reintroduced the vague disorderly conduct charge.

New legislation

Walker is concerned that Senate Bill 36, introduced by Sen. Thomas Norment, R- Williamsburg, along with other bills, could stunt that progress. The measure is identical to a House bill. The General Assembly recently passed both measures with bipartisan support in both chambers. 

Norment said during a Senate committee hearing that his bill was designed just to add better structure to what was a bipartisan bill when passed in 2020. He pushed back against the Senate committee effort to pass it by indefinitely. 

Sen. Mamie Locke, D-Hampton, objected to the bill.

“I care about the school-to-prison pipeline and what this does is open that back up again,” Locke said. “Those who are going to be reported are Black and Brown children, primarily.”

A substitute was adopted and then advanced. 

Norment, however, celebrated the legislative victory in a constituent newsletter Friday by stating that school principals will be required to report misdemeanor offenses.

Sen. Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond, who introduced the 2020 bill loosening reporting requirements, released a statement to Capital News Service that said Virginia is in better shape than seven years ago, “and that we must continue our progress to disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline.” 

“It is disappointing to see the legislature vote to undo part of that progress by mandating reporting of some incidents that are technically misdemeanors to law enforcement, taking the decision on whether to report away from the parents of the children involved in the incident,” McClellan stated.

2018 FILE PHOTO: Sen. Jennifer McClellan speaking on her proposed budget amendments meant to address the ‘School-to-Prison Pipeline,’ Jan. 29, 2018. (CNS photo by Kirby Farineau)

Principals will be required to report to law enforcement certain misdemeanors such as stalking, written and oral threats, and other offenses which were eliminated in 2020. 

The amended version allows a school board to create an alternative disciplinary process for students involved in assaults without bodily injury. If there is agreeable mediation between parties, the incident does not have to be reported to police. 

That alternative process is an option for school boards to implement, not a requirement.

School officials may choose to report written threats made by students with individualized education plans, the term used for placement of students with disabilities who need special education, according to the bill. Several lawmakers had expressed concern that the bill could disproportionately affect students with disabilities. 

Walker said it is unfortunate that Black and Latino students, and students with disabilities, are more often put on a path of contact with law enforcement. 

“Arlington is a microcosm of the state as a whole – where you have a disproportionate amount of Black and Brown students that end up disciplined at a higher rate than their white counterparts,” Walker said. 

A referral to law enforcement includes all contact students have with officers, including arrests, citations, tickets and court referrals, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

Black and Latino students at Arlington Public Schools made up nearly 70% of referrals to law enforcement, despite white students being nearly half of the enrollment, according to Arlington Public Schools. 

School resource officers

Walker is also concerned about the push to get more school resource officers into schools across the state. 

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin pledged during his campaign to station police officers in every school, a decision currently made by local school districts. 

The House passed House Bill 873, introduced by Del. Karen Greenhalgh, R-Virginia Beach, along a party line vote. The bill originally required school districts to place a school resource officer — law enforcement officers stationed in public schools — in every elementary and secondary school. If a district failed to comply with the legislation, they would not receive state grant funding, according to the fiscal statement. 

The Senate finance committee reported a substitute version, removing the requirement to have a resource officer in every school. Instead, a designated law enforcement officer will be trained and serve as a liaison for the school administrator in schools without a resource officer.

The Democrat-led Senate denied a similar bill, proposed by Sen. Bill DeSteph, R- Virginia Beach. 

Virginia high rate of student referral 

Ethan Lynne, a student at Patrick Henry High School in Hanover and member of the Virginia Teen Democrats, said he is nervous for his peers who may not be favored by administration. He fears the bill will contribute to the racial disparities reported in schools. 

“This can easily change the rest of their lives forever,” Lynne said. 

Students were referred to law enforcement nearly three times the national average, with a rate of 16 referrals out of 1,000 students, according to a 2015 Center for Public Integrity report. The organization is focused on investigative reporting of inequality and analyzed U.S. Department of Education data for its report. 

The referral rate dropped to 14 per 1,000 students, but Virginia maintains the highest referral rate in the nation, according to a report by the Center using data from the 2017-18 school year. 

LaSontra Anderson said she spends her days taking care of patients, her husband, and three daughters; two who still attend Virginia’s public schools. Her daughter Michel has Cerebral palsy. Anderson said she must stay on top of things or Michel will fall into the “pipeline.”

“If we are not her advocates, no one else will be,” Anderson said. 

Anderson fears Black students and students with disabilities will still be disproportionately referred to administrators and law enforcement. Some educators and administration are not thoroughly educated on disabilities, according to Anderson.

Students with disabilities were referred to law enforcement over two times the rate of all students in Virginia, or roughly 30 out of 1,000 students. Black students were referred at twice the rate of all students, or around 25 out of 1,000 students, according to the Center report.

“You’re stripping them of everything that’s looking forward to their future,” the mother said.

Angela Dews is a special education teacher at Armstrong High School in Richmond and former president of the Richmond Education Association. 

Administration should have support, not mandates on how to handle students, Dews said of the measure to require more reporting. Dews worries Armstrong High School administrators will have to report incidents to police that could be handled within school policies and codes of conduct.

“School is supposed to be a safe haven for our children, and you want kids to come to school and feel safe, and not feel like they are in the same situations as they are in their neighborhoods,” Dews said. “The kids need to know that they are safe with us and that the principals, administrations run this school, and that we are there for them and handle their discipline.”

Written by Tarazha Jenkins, Capital News Service. Top Photo: “Prison Bars Jail Cell” by JobsForFelonsHub, licensed with CC BY 2.0.

Glass Ceiling on Statewide Offices Remains for Black Women

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Over 30 years after Virginia’s (and the nation’s) first Black governor, L. Douglas Wilder, was elected, a Black woman has still not been elected governor anywhere in the nation. Four candidates currently campaigning for governor of Virginia are attempting to change that.

Four Black women have entered the 2021 Virginia gubernatorial race. If any of them are elected, the commonwealth would become the first state with a Black female governor. 

Sen. Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond, and former Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy, D-Prince William, are competing for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination. Former Roanoke City Sheriff Octavia Johnson is seeking the Republican nomination. Independent activist and educator Princess Blanding is running for the new Liberation Party, which she helped establish last year.

Former U.S. Rep. Shirley Chisholm, D-New York, made history in 1972 when she became the first Black woman to seek a U.S. presidential nomination for a major political party. Almost 50 years later, the road to electing a Black woman to a governorship or the presidency has yet to be traveled. 

“The next time a woman of whatever color, or a dark-skinned person of whatever sex aspires to be president, the way should be a little smoother because I helped pave it,” Chisholm said in 1973 regarding her unsuccessful presidential bid.

Jennifer Carroll Foy. Photo by Saffeya Ahmed.

Dearth of representation

Since Chisholm was elected, 50 Black women have served in Congress or federal office, according to the Center for American Women and Politics database. Ten Black women have held statewide executive offices such as lieutenant governor or attorney general, according to the same database. No Black woman has ever been elected governor, although former Georgia Rep. Stacey Abrams, D-Atlanta, came close in a 2018 hotly contested election.

Carroll Foy said the nation’s history limits what some citizens view as a capable candidate. 

“Unfortunately, people look to the past to try to dictate what can happen in the future,” she said. “When people see women of color running for higher office, we are seen as the exception and not the rule.”

Organizations dedicated to electing women to office, such as EMILY’S List, Higher Heights, and EMERGE, aim to make the paths to office more accessible in recent years, providing advice, contributions and peer support to women candidates. 

McClellan said when she first ran for a House seat in 2005, she had very little guidance and few mentors.

“There was no collective PAC, there was no EMERGE, you know, groups that have since formed to help Black candidates and women candidates and Black women candidates. They weren’t there,” McClellan said. “I had to really do it on my own, with help from the handful of people who had done it before me.”

Sen. Jennifer McClellan.

Media representation

The media often poorly represents women in politics, according to Political Parity, a research group that recruits and supports women candidates. Often, media coverage surrounding women running for office adds unnecessary details about a woman candidate’s clothing, weight, qualifications, motherhood situation and emotional maturity, according to the same report.

“Whether it’s questions about their parenting or their husbands, it’s just questions that we don’t see male candidates get,” said Kristen Hernandez, deputy director of campaign communications for EMILY’S List, an organization devoted to electing pro-choice Democratic women to office. “We’ve seen sexist rhetoric, misogynistic comments and racist tropes as well.” 

McClellan said perhaps the most consistent troubling narrative she sees in the media surrounding her campaign are questions about her qualifications. McClellan said she has more experience than all her Democratic opponents combined. 

“There never seems to be a question, when a white man runs for governor, but yet for us it’s, ‘Are you ready?’” McClellan said. “If I’m not ready after 16 years in state government, when would I ever be ready?”

McClellan said she also frequently sees herself and Carroll Foy lumped together in news articles, as they are both Black women who have served in the state legislature. A New York Times analyst hypothesized last month that McAuliffe might win the Democratic primary race because three of his competitors — McClellan, Carroll Foy and Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax — are Black, younger and generally more left-wing than McAuliffe.

Voters typically prefer candidates that most resemble themselves, according to a study published in an Oxford Academic Journal. This tendency suggests that Black women must also convince all constituents that despite being Black, they do not solely represent Black Virginians. Instead, most see themselves as the most qualified person for the job who just so happens to be a Black woman.

“I am not the candidate of Black America, although I am Black and proud,” Chisholm said during a campaign event in ’72. “I am not the candidate of the woman’s [sic] movement of this country, although I am a woman and I am equally proud of that.”

Even now the persistent myth that Black candidates can only win in majority-minority districts continues to plague America’s political scene, according to the Brookings Institute, a public policy organization headquartered in the District of Columbia. But of the five non-incumbent Black women elected to Congress in 2018, all were Democrats and four won in majority-white districts, according to the Center for American Women and Politics. 

Princess Blanding, sister of Marcus-David Peters, speaks to protesters outside the Stuart C. Siegel Center on the first day of the 2020 General Assembly special session. Photo by Andrew Ringle

Fundraising obstacles

One of the biggest barriers to elected office is the ability to raise campaign funds. The ability to fund a campaign continues to be a major obstacle to success for many women, not just women of color, according to the Brennan Center, a nonpartisan law and policy institute. The Center also found that candidates often receive party support based on their fundraising potential, which disadvantages candidates without notoriety, wealthy support networks or self-funding abilities. Donors who fund political campaigns are often wealthy, white and typically male, according to Demos, a Liberal think tank. These donors, according to the same report, also have different views and priorities, especially on the issues that matter most to Black women.

Blanding is the sister of the late Marcus-David Peters, a Black man shot and killed by a Richmond Police officer while he experienced what his family said was a mental health crisis. Blanding said fundraising is an ongoing struggle. She recalled looking at the first financial records report from the Board of Elections and said she could not help but “crack up laughing” at the amount she raised compared to other candidates. 

“But guess what? I have volunteers who are working around the clock to get the same results that they are paying for,” Blanding said. “That means a whole lot more to me.” 

Carroll Foy raised just over $1.8 million in the first quarter, while McClellan raised roughly half a million dollars, according to a Capital News Service analysis of fundraising reports. Carroll Foy resigned from her seat to fundraise. General Assembly members cannot fundraise until the session adjourns. Blanding raised almost $12,000 in the first quarter and Johnson raised $800. Altogether, all four women have raised just over half of what Democratic frontrunner and former Gov. Terry McAuliffe raised.

Aprill Turner, vice president of communications and external affairs for Higher Heights for America, said all women must run against a “boys’ club.” Higher Heights for America is a political action committee that seeks to mobilize and elevate the voices of Black women across the country. Turner said the path to elected offices has typically been paved by white men, and usually involves network connections and exclusive organizations that people of color and women have historically been unable to access. 

“You’ll see men groomed in a different way, or almost appointed,” Turner said. “Like, ‘You’ve got next,’ and kind of that little boys’ network.”

Jennifer Carroll Foy.

Will the statewide glass ceiling remain intact?

Former Del. Winsome Sears, R-Winchester, is running for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor. Sears was elected to a majority-Black district in 2002, becoming the first Republican to do so in Virginia since 1865. If she won the seat she would be the first Black woman to ever serve as Virginia’s lieutenant governor. L. Douglas Wilder was the state’s first Black lieutenant governor. He then became the commonwealth’s governor and the first Black man in the nation to hold the title.

Carroll Foy and McClellan will both compete for the Democratic party’s nomination on June 8. Johnson competes in the Republican party’s unassembled convention taking place statewide on May 8. Blanding will make it to the November ballot if she collects 2,000 signatures by June 8, which she is confident she will achieve.

Carroll Foy feels confident she will win the election. 

“We’re mobilizing and organizing more people of color, more people from the AAPI community, from the Latinx community, the Indigenous community, the millennials, more women than ever before,” Carroll Foy said, regarding her campaign. “We’re building the most diverse coalition of voters and supporters that Virginia has ever seen.”

Early voting is underway for the Democratic primary on June 8.

Written by Josephine Walker, Capital News Service. Top Photo: Four Black women are seeking a gubernatorial victory. If any one of them wins, they would make history as the first Black female in the U.S. to hold the governor’s seat. From left to right: independent Princess Blanding, former Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy, D-Prince William, Sen. Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond, and former Roanoke City Sheriff Octavia Johnson.

Virginia Lawmakers Establish More LGBTQ Protections

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This year’s General Assembly session, the second in which Virginia’s legislative body has been under Democratic control, saw further improvements over last year’s already outstanding push for LGBTQ equality.

The Democratic-controlled Virginia General Assembly worked in its second year to establish more protections for LGBTQ people. 

Lawmakers tackled LGBTQ inequity in criminal justice and health care, reforming laws that advocates said were rooted in discrimination and could block access to needed services. An advisory board will be established to continue Virginia’s work with the LGBTQ community. 

Though some key legislation failed, advocates said the state is moving forward.

“Virginia continues to be a safer and more welcoming place for LGBTQ people and their families,” said Vee Lamneck, executive director of Equality Virginia, a nonprofit that advocates for LGBTQ people. “This is the second year in a row that we have seen significant life-changing legislation passed.”

Aging LGBTQ community

House Bill 1805 was introduced by Del. Dawn Adams, D-Richmond, to help ensure “that LGBT older people and people who are older living with HIV don’t fall through the cracks.”

 The bill expands on the federal Older Americans Act and calls on the state’s Department of Aging and Rehabilitative Services to prioritize older persons with significant social and economic needs. 

The bill defines economic needs as being at or below the poverty line. Social needs are caused by noneconomic factors such as physical disability, including HIV, or mental disability, the bill states. Social needs can arise from isolation, including isolation related to a history of discrimination. Such factors include language barriers, race, gender identity, gender expression or sexual orientation which affect an individual’s ability to perform daily tasks or threaten their capacity to live independently.

 “Sometimes having faced lifelong stigma and discrimination, sometimes at the hands of government and other providers, means that these populations have trouble accessing the assistance they need as they grow older,” Adams said. 

Adams said she has experienced discrimination as an LGBTQ individual, and she has witnessed it as a health care provider.

“What I can tell you as a 56-year-old lesbian, is that I am still shrouded in shame,” Adams said during a January committee meeting. “When I would go to the doctor 10 years ago, I would leave in tears.”

Del. Dawn Adams, D-Richmond (Photo via CNS)

Lamneck, who spoke in support of the bill, said there is a trend across the country and in Virginia of LGBTQ older persons “going back into the closet as they age because they are afraid of being mistreated.” Some LGBTQ individuals hide their sexual orientation when entering an assisted living facility, Lamneck said.

“We see LGBT older adults not accessing programs and services like Meals on Wheels,” Lamneck said. “Then Black and Latinx LGBT adults experience even higher marginalization resulting in even lower access to these services than white LGBT older adults.” 

The General Assembly also passed the companion bill, Senate Bill 1316, introduced by Sen. George Barker, D-Alexandria.

Criminal Justice Reform 

Virginia lawmakers passed several criminal justice reform bills that bring state law in more alignment with public policy.

HB 2132 introduced by Del. Danica Roem, D-Manassas, bans the use of a “gay panic defense” in cases where a defendant attacks a person for being a member of the LGBTQ community. The defense has been used in several Virginia cases, most recently in 2011. The defense was also used, albeit unsuccessfully, in the 1998 Matthew Shepard case.

“LGBTQ+ people are being violently harmed and viciously murdered simply because of who we are, and the noxious LGBTQ ‘panic’ defense allows attackers to escape the criminal sentences that would otherwise be imposed on them,” Wes Bizzell, president of the National LGBT Bar Association, stated in a press release.

Virginia is the 12th state to pass legislation that bans this defense, according to the policy organization Movement Advancement Project. The defense is also banned in the District of Columbia.

Del. Danica Roem, D-Prince William (Photo via CNS)

SB 1138, sponsored by Sens. Mamie Locke, D-Hampton and Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond, repealed the crime of donating blood, organs and tissue by those who have HIV. Donors must be in compliance with the HIV Organ Policy Equity Act. The measure also removes HIV, AIDS, syphilis and hepatitis B from the list of infectious biological substances under the current infected sexual battery law, opting to use the language “sexually transmitted infection.”

The bill sought to reduce the felony charge of infected sexual battery for people who engage in risky sexual activity after testing positive for a sexually transmitted infection. The crime is punishable by a Class 6 felony, which carries a punishment of no more than five years in prison or a $2,500 fine. The Senate voted to lower the Class 6 felony to a Class 1 misdemeanor. The House rejected this and the final bill was passed with the felony penalty intact. 

Organizations such as Equality Virginia and Ending Criminalization of HIV and Overincarceration in Virginia, known as ECHO VA, petitioned Northam to amend the bill and remove the felony penalty.

HIV discriminatory laws have historically been used to single out members of the LGBTQ community since the beginning of the epidemic when the virus was known as the “gay plague,” according to Avert, the national HIV and AIDS research organization. These laws have also resulted in a stigma against those living with HIV, regardless of sexual orientation.

Advisory board

HB 2130, introduced by Del. Alfonso Lopez, D-Arlington, creates a Virginia LGBTQ + Advisory Board in the executive branch of state government. The executive board will advise the governor on the economic, professional, cultural, educational and governmental links between the commonwealth and the LGBTQ community.

The 26-member board is modeled after the existing Latino Advisory and Asian Advisory boards, Lopez said. The governor will appoint 21 non-legislative citizens to the board; at least 15 of the members shall identify as LGBTQ.

“In just the last decade, Virginians ended marriage inequality, passed legislation that banned anti-LGBTQ discrimination in housing and employment, and won the right to get licenses and IDs with a nonbinary gender marker, but there’s still work to do,” Lopez said to members of the House in January. 

Marriage equality 

House Joint Resolution 582, introduced by Lopez and Del. Mark Sickles, D-Fairfax, repealed outdated language in the state code that was invalid as a result of the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges. Virginia’s current law defines marriage as a union between only one man and one woman. 

Senate Joint Resolution 270 is complementary to HJ 582. The resolution redefines marriage as a fundamental right, rather than a union between only one man and one woman. 

Lawmakers in both chambers crossed party lines to vote for the bills. Lawmakers passed legislation last year that removed the same-sex marriage ban from Virginia’s Constitution. The repeal came six years after same-sex marriage became legally recognized in Virginia and five years after it was legalized across the country.

Failed bills

Several LGBTQ-centric bills were introduced this session that did not make it to the governor’s desk. 

LGBTQ adoption

Del. Mark Levine, D-Alexandria, introduced HB 1932, to keep foster and adoption agencies from refusing to place children in LGBTQ homes because of religious or moral convictions or policies. Agencies who refuse LGBTQ couples are protected from legal consequences under the state’s “conscience clause.” This law applies to private and state-licensed agencies. 

Del. Mark Levine, D-Alexandria (Photo via CNS)

Virginia funds foster and adoption agencies despite the conscience clause. A similar law exists in other states where federally-funded agencies can deny same-sex couples and non-Christian couples. Levine said the state should not be required to fund these organizations and that if an agency discriminates, they should “do it on their own dime.”

Levine said the current law harms LGBTQ kids and sometimes leaves them placed in homophobic environments.

“It basically tells kids ‘you’re unwanted, you’re unloved, you’re not good enough,’” Levine said. “It just consigns people to this hierarchy of ‘straight is better than gay’ whether it’s the kids or the parents.” 

Adoption agencies are not required to note on their website or any other forum whether they do not place children with certain families. 

“If you’re actively practicing religious discrimination, list it,” Levine said. “At least tell the public what you do.” 

The House narrowly passed the bill, but it was left in a Senate subcommittee. 

Bias-based profiling

Levine’s bill to expand the definition of bias-based profiling to include sexual orientation and gender identity also narrowly passed the House but faltered in the Senate. Bias-based profiling is when a police officer takes action solely based on an individual’s real or perceived race, age, ethnicity or gender.

 HB 1948 required officers to report certain behavior among officers. Any officer who discriminated against or witnessed another officer discriminate against any individual without reporting it would be subjected to disciplinary action. The original bill also required on-duty law enforcement officers who witnessed a person suffering from a bodily injury or life-threatening condition to provide immediate aid.

Law enforcement testified against the bill during a Senate committee meeting. Sen. Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax, argued that the original statute, introduced and passed during the 2020 special session, addressed the issue of “driving while Black.” Petersen said he was unaware of an issue of “driving while gay.”

Almost 30 percent of transgender people reported being harassed by police, according to the National Transgender Discrimination Survey. Transgender people of color are six times more likely to experience physical violence from the police compared to white cisgender survivors and victims, according to a 2013 study by the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs. 

Hate crime expansion

Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Chesterfield, introduced SB 1203, to expand the definition of hate crimes to include crimes against people based on perception. 

Lamneck said expanding the categories within the hate crimes law will ensure diverse members of the community are protected and that those who commit violent crimes are held appropriately responsible. 

Opponents of the bill said it was too broad and could be misused. The bill died in committee when four Democratic legislators crossed party lines to vote against it. 

Hashmi and Levine will consider reintroducing their failed bills next session.

Lamneck said Equality Virginia will host an event this spring or summer to hear from the community about legislative priorities for the next session. 

Written by Cierra Parks, Capital News Service. Top Photo: Man holding pride flag; photo by Brianna Swank from Pexels.

Virginia Asian Communities, Lawmakers React To Rise In Targeted Violence

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In the wake of the Atlanta shooting and other hate-fueled attacks against Asian Americans, Central Virginia’s Asian American community are coming together to stand up against violence and racist stereotypes.

White signs reading “End Violence Against Asians” and “Stop Asian Hate” illuminated against candle flames outside the Richmond Korean Presbyterian Church. 

More than 60 people gathered recently in Southside Richmond for the candlelight vigil to commemorate the Atlanta shooting victims and to call attention to recent anti-Asian violence.

“We did not want to be here, but we are here because of the hate,” said Mahmud Chowdhury, chairman of the Asian American Society of Central Virginia. “Because of madness in some people’s hearts and because of racism.”

The vigil was one of numerous events across Virginia this past March as communities, advocates and lawmakers came together in response to the murder of eight people in Atlanta. Six of the eight victims were Asian women. Police charged 21-year-old Robert Aaron Long, who is white, with eight counts of murder. 

A “Stop the Hate” rally was held in Richmond’s West End three days after the vigil. Community leaders and dignitaries, such as Attorney General Mark Herring and State Sen. Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond, spoke at the rally.

May Nivar, who is Asian American and chair of Gov. Ralph Northam’s Asian Advisory Board, said she attended the vigil to show support for her community. 

“It’s important that we all stand together and stand not only together amongst our own community but also with other marginalized communities,” Nivar said. 

Nivar also is a founding member and chair of the Asian & Latino Solidarity Alliance of Central Virginia and member of the Richmond chapter of Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities. She said fundamental local and federal legislative changes are needed to address anti-Asian discrimination. 

“These vigils, they help bring the community together when we’re hurting,” Nivar said. “However, the real change has to come at the root cause. And that’s racism.” 

These changes, Nivar said, include anti-racist policies in government and education, such as teaching the history of minorities. She said white supremacy plays a part in the absence of teaching the history of marginalized communities in schools, such as African American and Asian American history. 

Nivar said the Asian American and Pacific Islander community also needs to internally reflect on its part in addressing systemic racism and striving for substantial changes.

“We need to work with ourselves,” Nivar said. “There’s a lot of anti-Blackness in our community. There’s a lot of colorism in our community. There’s a lot of layers to unpack.”

State legislators recently formed a caucus to advocate legislation for Asian American and Pacific Islanders in Virginia, which the founding members said was partly a response to recent anti-Asian hate crimes.

Del. Kathy K.L. Tran, D-Springfield, said the movement to combat Asian hate is part of a larger racial and economic justice movement. 

The caucus plans to work alongside the Virginia Legislative Black and Virginia Latino caucuses to push out legislation to “achieve our common goals of a more equitable future for Virginians.”

Tran was overcome with emotions as she reflected on the surge of violence against Asian Americans in the past months.

“It’s as if we have been so othered, that we’re at the point that we’re dehumanized,” Tran said, “and that you could be cruel against us. You can be a bully against us, because nobody’s going to stand up to help us.”

Days after Tran’s remarks, a Filipina American woman was brutally attacked in New York City during the day. No one intervened.

Tran’s family came to the United States as refugees from Vietnam. Her family dealt with discrimination and microaggressions when they moved to the U.S, she said.

“I’m thinking about my own experience and unpacking that,” Tran said. “That’s hard. It’s just a lot of trauma.”

Candlelight vigil at the Richmond Korean Presbyterian Church on March 20. Photo by David Tran.

Del. Kelly K. Convirs-Fowler, D-Virginia Beach, said the Asian American community has a long history of enduring xenophobia and racism. Convirs-Fowler, who is of Filipino descent, added the Asian American and Pacific Islander community will not be a scapegoat. She rejected the notion that the group is a model minority, a stereotype that paints Asian Americans as hardworking and economically successful compared to other ethnic minorities. She said the caucus formation “symbolizes a shift” in Virginia’s Asian American community.

The caucus members do not have a firm list of policy agendas, but they will have a virtual listening tour in April to gauge issues and concerns in the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. They will virtually meet with the public in Northern and Central Virginia and Hampton Roads.

Del. Suhas Subramanyam, D-Ashburn, said the caucus will incorporate the feedback into its policy agenda, which it plans to release in May, coinciding with Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month. The caucus will pursue specific legislation during the 2022 General Assembly session.

Del. Mark L. Keam, D-Fairfax, said he wants to improve language access at government services for Asian Americans and others who do not speak English. He said non-English speakers are not getting vital information about COVID-19 vaccine distribution or unemployment insurance claims due to the lack of language assistance.

While Atlanta law enforcement have not declared the killings a hate crime, many Asian Americans believe the shootings are another example of the spike in anti-Asian violence since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Advocates and lawmakers have linked the hate crimes to rhetoric blaming the Asian community for COVID-19. Many attribute the origin to former President Donald Trump’s usage of the terms “Chinese virus” or “Kung flu” to describe COVID-19.

“The past administration in the White House frequently sought to demean and dehumanize,” the Asian American and Pacific Islander community and didn’t respond to growing attacks, said Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Chesterfield.

Hashmi introduced a bill this legislative session to expand the definition of hate crimes to include attacks based on the perception of a person’s identity. The bill failed to advance.

Tran said anti-Asian hate crimes may go unreported because most people are afraid to come forward. 

“They might not have the language abilities, the trust of law enforcement, and they just don’t know how to report,” Tran said. 

Subramanyam said he received calls and emails from Asian Americans, especially South Asian Americans, reporting hate incidents to his office because they feel uncomfortable reporting to law enforcement. 

There were 215 reported victims of anti-Asian hate crimes in 2019, according to an FBI hate crime statistics report. Anti-Asian hate crimes increased nearly 150 percent from 2019 to 2020 in 16 major U.S. cities, according to a Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism report.

Almost 50 hate incidents against Asian Americans occurred in Virginia since March 2020, according to a report by STOP AAPI Hate, a group that tracks hate incidents against Asian Americans. The organization uses the term hate incident to account for incidents motivated by bias that might not be legally defined as a crime, such as racist slurs. 

Nearly 3,800 hate incidents nationwide were reported to the organization since the pandemic. Virginia was one of the top 18 states with the most reported incidents, joining Maryland and the District of Columbia. 

Reported hate incidents in Virginia were much lower than incidents reported in California, New York and Washington, which accounted for a majority of incidents. The group received almost 1,700 hate incident reports in California. 

The majority of individuals reported verbal harassment, followed by shunning and physical assault. Chinese is the largest ethnicity group to report hate, followed by Koreans, Vietnamese and Filipinos. Women reported more than twice as much anti-Asian discrimination than men, according to the report.

There is a long legacy of anti-Asian racism in the U.S. that is often intertwined with misogyny, experts said. One of the earliest acts of anti-Asian sentiment was the 1871 Chinese massacre in Los Angeles that killed 19 Chinese immigrants, said Sylvia Chong, associate professor of American studies at the University of Virginia.

The Page Act of 1875 denied Chinese women entry into the U.S. due to “lewd and immoral purposes” because “they were seen as a sort of a threat to immigration, but also, they were characterized as not being virtuous,” said Shilpa Davé, associate dean and assistant professor of media studies at UVA. 

Anti-Asian discrimination seeped into laws, such as the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 that prohibited all immigration of Chinese laborers. It was the first federal law to bar a specific ethnic group from coming into the country.

Chong and Davé said the U.S. military presence and imperialism in Asia during the 20th century escalated the sexualization of Asian women. Chong said there was “persistent encouragement and use” of the local population to satisfy the military’s sexual needs.

“This introduces to American troops… the notion that Asian women in particular are in the position of sexual servitude,” Chong said. “So this follows people home.” 

This narrative carried over and persisted in American popular culture, in numerous films and musicals, such as Miss Saigon, portraying Asian women as sex objects, Davé said. It created the stereotype of Asian women being “sexually promiscuous or self-sacrificing” which became ingrained in American society.

The Atlanta shootings and recent violence underscore the intersectionality of gender, class and immigration status in anti-Asian racism, Chong said. While there is no indication the Atlanta shooting victims engaged in sex work, she said, Asian massage parlor workers are vulnerable to sexual exploitation. Low-wage laborers, such as massage spa workers, are often exploited and demonized, she said. There is also a narrative that they need to be “saved from their lives,” which is harmful, according to Chong.

“They need to be given the protection to live their lives as others do,” Chong said. “Free from coercion, law enforcement coercion, as well as the random violence, societal violence. This is what any person in society wants.”

Written by David Tran, Capital News Service. Top Photo: A crowd of people at Richmond Korean Presbyterian Church during a candlelight vigil on March 20 to honor the Atlanta shootings victims. Virginian politicians, such as U.S Rep. Abigail Spanberger, Del. Schuyler VanValkenburg and State Sen. Ghazala Hashmi attended and spoke at the event. Photo by David Tran.

Supporters Say McClellan is ‘Voice That Virginia Needs to Hear’

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Over the course of 15 years in the General Assembly, state Sen. Jennifer McClellan has actively shaped Virginia’s political landscape. Now, with her campaign to become Virginia’s next governor, she wants to take things to the next level.

Sen. Jennifer McClellan is one of 13 candidates vying to become Virginia’s next governor; a state that has never had a woman in the top post.

McClellan, D-Richmond, has helped shape Virginia’s changing political landscape for 15 years as a state legislator. She just completed her fifth year serving as a senator. She won the position in a 2017 special election, departing her 11-year post as a delegate representing Charles City County and parts of Richmond City and Henrico and Hanover counties. McClellan now looks to the executive mansion.

“We need a governor who can rebuild our economy, our healthcare, our economic safety net, and help us move forward post-COVID in a way that addresses inequity and brings people that are impacted by these crises together to be a part of that solution,” McClellan said. “I’ve got the experience and perspective to do that.” 

McClellan’s party has controlled both chambers in the legislature for the past two years, along with the executive branch. The Democratic trifecta has ushered in more progressive legislation and undone decades of conservative policy. 

“I have a full understanding of how we got where we are as a commonwealth, where we need to go, and how to build that coalition of people to come together to do that,” McClellan said.

McClellan has close ties with many of the issues she fights for, including domestic workers’ rights. She comes from a long line of domestic workers. The General Assembly recently passed a bill spearheaded by McClellan that includes domestic service workers in employee protection laws. Every woman on her mother’s side of the family has been a domestic worker, the senator said. 

“My mom was one of 14 children born during the Depression in the Gulf Coast of Mississippi,” she said. “For her mother, her grandmother, her sisters, those were the only jobs available.”

Sen. Jennifer McClellan speaks to advocates of a minimum wage bill as they rally outside the Capitol building in January 2019. Photo via CNS.

Key issues 

McClellan said she wants to bolster Virginia as the state digs into another year of the pandemic. That includes a focus on education, health care, and economic recovery and development. 

McClellan said she wants to provide more funding for public schools, including raising teacher salaries to an average of $65,000. Legislators have cut Virginia’s education funding formula since the recession, according to a report from the Commonwealth Institute. The cuts include capping the number of school support staff paid for by the state.

McClellan plans to help stabilize and expand the child care industry. The pandemic caused many child care workers to lose jobs and day cares to close. The industry will continue to decline without public investment and policy reform, according to a University of California, Berkeley report.

The senator said child care should be recognized as a public necessity. McClellan said she laid the groundwork for the Universal Child Care & Early Learning Plan during the 2021 General Assembly session. McClellan’s $4 billion plan calls for universal child care by 2025 for babies and children up to age 4. 

The governor recently signed McClellan’s Senate Bill 1316, which exempts prospective child care employees and volunteers from background checks if one has been performed in the past five years. The bill also prompts the Department of Education to establish a two-year pilot program that would move federal child care subsidy dollars from an attendance-based to an enrollment-based model. If an emergency kept the student from attending, the facility does not get subsidy dollars under the attendance-based system, even though the facility already had financially prepared for the student. Child care centers lost federal funding in the past year due to the pandemic and children missing more days than usual. 

The pandemic has negatively impacted many small businesses and workers. McClellan said she will create a COVID Long-Term Effects Small Business Loan allowing small business owners to apply for a low interest, 30-year loan. McClellan wants to expand small businesses access to capital through increased funding partnerships with entities such as the Virginia Community Capital bank. She also promoted evaluating laws and tax structures to help “allow entrepreneurs to innovate and grow” their businesses in alignment with market trends. 

The General Assembly in recent years has made efforts to improve workers’ rights, though several bills were whittled down or didn’t advance. McClellan wants to expedite the transition to a $15 minimum hourly wage, allow an estimated half a million gig workers access to unemployment benefits and remove barriers to collective bargaining. She would also like to pass a stronger version of a paid sick leave bill than what the Senate amended this session. 

Senator Jennifer McClellan criticizes HB 1257, which prohibited sanctuary cities in Virginia, in 2018. (Photo credit: George Copeland Jr.)

Obstacles 

Stephen Farnsworth, director of the Center for Leadership and Media Studies at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, said McClellan has a good chance of winning the governorship, but there are obstacles in her way.

“The big challenge that Sen. McClellan has in this contest is the fact that there’s a former governor, Terry McAuliffe, who’s also seeking the Democratic nomination,” he said. “Absent McAuliffe, she would be one of the leading candidates, but with McAuliffe in the race, it will be hard for any of the other Democratic candidates to compete with somebody who has already won a statewide election.”

McAuliffe worked “very hard” over the last several years to help create Democratic majorities in the legislature and has some IOUs to collect that will help his campaign, Farnsworth said.

Democrats will see a variety of issues they support in McClellan’s voting record, including civil rights, criminal justice reform, climate change and questions of equality, Farnsworth said. 

“Experience is always a big plus when you’re talking about a candidate for governor,” he said. “It’s not a job that is a good place for on-the-job training. And that will also be one of her key assets.”

Other Democrats on the gubernatorial ticket are former state Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy; Del. Lee Carter, D-Manassas; and Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax. Seven Republican candidates and one independent are also in the race. There are five female candidates representing three parties.

Only 44 women have served as governor, according to the Center for American Women and Politics, a part of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University. Women have held those seats in 30 states.

McClellan said this political race is different from her other political campaigns because of COVID-19. Previously, candidates connected with people in person.

“We’ve had to shift to virtual events, which is both challenging and brings opportunities because I can talk to people from all across the state at one time, but it’s not quite the same,” she said.

Sen. Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond, speaks during the final reading of House Bill 2208, which would remove the statue of former U.S. senator Harry F. Byrd Sr. from Capitol Square in Richmond. (Screenshot via. Virginia General Assembly’s Senate Livestream)

A ‘new voice’ 

Sen. Mamie Locke, D-Hampton, a colleague and friend of McClellan’s, has endorsed her run for governor. She and McClellan have worked on bills together over the years pertaining to women’s issues, reproductive rights and voting rights. One of her fondest memories with McClellan is the day the General Assembly passed legislation for Virginia to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. The ERA is a proposed U.S. Constitutional amendment to provide equal rights to American citizens regardless of sex. Virginia became the 38th state to ratify it in 2020, though the Congressional deadline has passed.

Locke and McClellan were two of several lawmakers who sponsored legislation in the Senate supporting the amendment.

“We just kind of looked at each other,” Locke said. “All of these women were in this room, even though there were women in the room who certainly had voted and lobbied against it.” 

Locke said they had just delivered remarks in support of the ERA. Then the committee started its vote. 

“We looked at each other and said, ‘Oh my god, this is really going to pass now,’ and at the end of the vote we hugged each other.” 

Locke said McClellan is a candidate with energy, new ideas, and “a voice that Virginia needs to hear.” Locke said she didn’t need to be convinced when McClellan called to ask for her endorsement.

“It’s time for Virginia to move in a direction that’s not the same old thing over and over again,” she said. “She is a very strong individual who can bring … that new voice, that new energy to the governor’s office. That’s what Virginia needs right now.”

Written by Hunter Britt, Capital News Service. Top Photo by Susan Shibut.