Ralph Northam Archives

Legal Weed Is Now A Thing In Virginia. Here’s What You Can And Can’t Do.

Lia Tabackman | June 30, 2021

Topics: cannabis, General Assembly, Jenn Michelle Pedini, Louise Lucas, Marijuana, marijuana legalization in Virginia, NORML, Ralph Northam, Scott Surovell

Virginia legalized it; mere hours from now, you will legally be able to possess small amounts of marijuana within the commonwealth. But can you legally buy it? Grow it? Well, that’s complicated. Let RVA Mag break it down for you.

Beginning July 1, 2020, adults in Virginia aged 21 years old or older will be able to legally possess and cultivate small amounts of marijuana, in the privacy of their own homes, for recreational purposes. It’s a monumental move for a Southern state — particularly considering that legalization was originally slated to be delayed until 2024.

The legalization bill is nuanced, as 283-page documents tend to be. It’s also peppered with contradictions: you can grow weed, but you can’t legally purchase the seeds or clippings needed to do so. Possessing more than one ounce (28.3 grams) of pot is illegal, but you can own up to 4 plants (which will, in theory, produce more weed than the legal limit allows). And while the law legalizes simple possession of marijuana, there’s no way to legally purchase it for recreational use.

To that end, RVAMag spoke with Jenn Michelle Pedini, the Development Director for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) and Executive Director of Virginia NORML, about the law’s discrepancies, nuances, and what you can and can’t do.

Now that weed is legal, how can I legally obtain it?

You can’t — unless you have a medical card. Until the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority licenses adult-use retailers (expected to take place in 2024), the only way to legally purchase marijuana in the Commonwealth is if you are a registered medical patient shopping at one of the state’s four licensed medical cannabis dispensaries. (You can find a practitioner and get certified for the state’s medical cannabis program here.)

Other legal options include growing marijuana yourself or receiving it as a gift from someone who grows.

Illegal options include finding weed the good ol’ fashioned way via Virginia’s black market, the fourth-largest illicit market in the nation.

Can I smoke in public?

No. You’ll receive a $25 fine if you’re caught using marijuana or offering it to others in public. A second offense would require you to participate in a mandatory drug treatment program, while a third offense is a Class 4 Misdemeanor.

Possessing marijuana on school grounds or on a school bus is also still illegal.

Can my employer still fire me for smoking weed?

Yes. While there are some protections for card-carrying registered medical cannabis patients, recreational marijuana users are not protected from employment discrimination. That means your employer can still drug test and fire you at will if you test positive for marijuana.

I’m under 21; what happens if I’m caught with marijuana?

People under age 21 caught in possession of marijauana will face a $25 fine and mandatory substance abuse program or education.

I’m an adult; what happens if I’m caught with more than an ounce of marijuana?

Adults caught with more than an ounce but less than one pound of marijuana will face a $25 fine.

Adults caught with more than a pound are subject to felony charges, punishable by between one and 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

Will Washington D.C.’s “gifting” economy happen in Virginia?

The unregulated marijuana “gifting economy” in Washington D.C. is infamous. Selling marijuana is technically illegal in DC, but delivery services and retailers are able to distribute weed to consumers by including it as a “totally unrelated” “free gift” alongside, for example, a $75 sticker, $45 t-shirt, or a $120 keychain.

Virginia lawmakers are well aware of this loophole and explicitly banned it in the state’s legalization bill: “Adult sharing” does not include instances in which (i) marijuana is given away contemporaneously with another reciprocal transaction between the same parties; (ii) a gift of marijuana is offered or advertised in conjunction with an offer for the sale of goods or services; or (iii) a gift of marijuana is contingent upon a separate reciprocal transaction for goods or services,” the bill states.

Can you transport marijuana in a car?

Drivers or passengers may not consume or possess an open container of cannabis while a vehicle is in operation — but it’s not totally clear what an “open container” means. That’s because Virginia’s legalization law was written under the assumption that regulated retail sales, and thus regulated containers, would already be established. That’s not the case.

“The entire concept of a container is different for marijuana than it is for alcohol,” said Sen. Scott Surovell told VPM. “If you were buying marijuana from a retail location, it would probably come in a labeled and marked bag with somebody’s name on it, with the weight shown. It would be a little easier to figure out if the so-called container had been opened or not.”

For now, Pedini recommends anyone transporting cannabis in a vehicle to ensure that it is in “a completely sealed and locked container” in the trunk of your vehicle or in the area behind the last seats.

“It’s pretty easy to stay within the context of the law by following these guidelines,” Pedini says.

Will prior marijuana possession charges and convictions be sealed?

Simple possession of marijuana records were sealed in 2020, and all records of misdemeanor possession with intent to distribute marijuana will be automatically sealed from public view in the Virginia State Police’s systems on July 1, 2021.

Meanwhile, “after several state entities overhaul record-keeping systems” all records, including records of arrests, charges, and convictions, for simple possession of marijuana or misdemeanor possession with the intent to distribute will be automatically sealed across all state and private databases. The state says that process will happen by July 2025.

A process is also being created to allow those convicted of more serious marijuana charges — like felony possession with intent to distribute — to seal their records as well.

Will people in prison for marijuana charges be released?

No, at least not immediately. Despite the fact that marijuana will be legal, people currently incarcerated on marijuana-related charges will remain behind bars.

Lawmakers discussed implementing a provision that would allow judges to amend the sentences of already incarcerated people, but the provision failed to pass. It will be revisited in 2022.

“Now we’re going to be in a situation where you’ve got people still sitting in jail for the very thing that we’ve already legalized,” said Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, who co-sponsored the legislation. “It makes no sense to me.”

Top Photo by Shelby Ireland on Unsplash.

The RVA CBD Rundown

Ash Griffith | June 24, 2021

Topics: cannabis, CBD, General Assembly, hemp legalization in Virginia, Kanapa, legal weed in Virginia, Ralph Northam

From the rules of the road to the ins and outs of CBD, THC, and more, RVA Mag walks you through the full legal implications of recreational cannabis becoming legal on July 1.

From gummies to vape pens to even the elusive brownie, there are many ways to enjoy CBD and the medical effects it offers. With Governor Ralph Northam signing various cannabis bills into law in April, which will go into effect in Virginia on July 1, it is a pretty good time to be a supporter of your favorite hemp plant.

Here in the Commonwealth, the times are clearly changing toward a more progressive and supportive approach to what is debatably the safer recreational substance on the market. The aforementioned bills take actions including regulating CBD products as food, and providing various employment protections for state-registered medical cannabis patients. These new laws not only make it safer to use CBD, thanks to the regulations on its production, but also offer peace of mind to users who need to make it through the day without worrying about legal implications.

Despite this newness of this legal framework, cannabis shops are not a new thing in Virginia, nor are many of the products they offer. The loosening of legal restrictions will only increase the wonderland that is commercially available CBD — and, tangentially, THC (its psychedelic sister) — but should also lead to growth in the cannabis product industry and its popularity.

Kanapa CBD is located comfortably in Carytown, across the street from the historic Byrd Theater and the New York Deli (home of the best honey sriracha sauce this side of the river). Kanapa has been in the CBD game for the last five years, and they will be the first to tell you with an exasperated sigh that a lot, and I mean a lot, has changed over the last five years.

“First thing, people were purchasing CBD for a lot more than they are now,” said a spokesperson for Kanapa. “And now you have more competition. People are dropping their own batches and brands; it’s kind of like the craft beer market. You don’t have to go and buy Bud Light anymore, you can go to different localities and see what they’re growing.”

Because at the end of the day, it’s just a hemp plant, people are effectively growing it at home and turning it into various needs and preferences. Many people use it for various wellness needs, such as anxiety disorder and muscle soreness.

Even in 2021 there are still many people with misconceptions regarding CBD. The biggest one that remains is, of course, that CBD and marijuna are the same thing, and not what they actually are: two entirely different substances.

CBD is non-psychoactive; it’s derived from a non-intoxicating compound found in the hemp plant. THC is psychoactive, and creates the characteristics that we traditionally think of with a “marijuana high.” Therefore, anyone coming into a shop carrying CBD expecting to find a recreation of Eric Foreman’s basement from That 70s Show is going to be sorely disappointed.

“A lot of customers want that clarity,” said the Kanapa spokesperson. “They want to be focused throughout the day, and they like cannabis, but they can’t use that throughout the day because it leaves them groggy and unfocused. With CBD they can be functional with their kids and family, and while that’s not to say not everyone who uses THC is like that, the majority of people that come in here come for CBD because cannabis knocks them out.”

*Kanapa CBD in Carytown. Photo via Facebook.*

Much like craft beer, another misconception about CBD is that all of it is created equal. No two brands in the land of the hemp are the same, nor do they provide the same quality and experience.

“Every CBD product that I have seen is different, and every company does their own formulation,” Kanapa’s spokesperson said. “There are some that are full spectrum, with the THC in it. There is a broad spectrum with no THC in it, but still keeps the integrity of the plant with the cannabinoids and the terpenes, which are the flavors inside the plant. There is also isolate, which is CBD extracted by itself in a raw form.”

The passage of various cannabis bills legalizing the plant and its usage in April was a monumental step toward its regulation and normalization. However, there are some things that still need to be noted prior to the bills going into effect on July 1st.

“July 1st is not [legalizing] retail sales,” said Kanapa’s spkesperson. “That is the biggest misconception everyone needs to know. You can grow it in your house, but you cannot purchase it in a store.”

Amongst other things of note are that you can not carry more than an ounce on your person, the marijuana in your possession can only be gifted, with no monetary exchanges, and that there is a 21% tax proposed on it in addition to the 6% sales tax, which would bring the total tax on cannabis products close to 30%. If you do not already have a medical card, now might be the time, as medical patients will not be subject to this tax.

“This is a plant that is medicinally helping people, along with the recreational side as well,” said Kanapa’s spokesperson.

Another win from the bill and the future of cannabis in Richmond comes as a support for smaller businesses. While retail sales in Virginia will not officially start until 2024, from the looks of it so far, not everyone with a business can just start stocking their shelves.

“I do appreciate the way Virginia is trying to make it a social equity program,” said Kanapa’s spokesperson. “They are not trying to let big businesses come in here and run the show. I do like that they are not saturating the market initially. From what I have seen, they are only going to allow about 400 retail stores throughout the whole state, and they are going to make sure that the people who own them are Virginians, affected from cannabis in the past, and 66% are going to be minority owned, at least as required for those social equity permits.”

The folks at Kanapa also noted that it is pretty nice that the money is going back to Virginians and into the local economy.

As the first southern state to legalize cannabis, Virginia is in line with other states, mostly on the West Coast, who have already seen the overwhelming benefits and positive effects of legalization. From keeping innocent from being incarcerated over a recreational drug no more harmful (some would say less harmful) than many perfectly legal substances, to allowing medical patients to grow it in their backyard instead of spending valuable time in line, the benefits just keep coming.

Virginia Universities Reckon With Confederate Symbols

VCU CNS | May 28, 2021

Topics: black lives matter, Confederate monuments, Douglas Southall Freeman, George Floyd, John Mitchell Jr., Mohamed Kamara, Ralph Northam, Robert Ryland, slavery, systemic racism, University of Richmond, University Of Virginia, vcu, Virginia Military Institute, Washington & Lee University, william and mary

In the wake of last summer’s protests and the pulling down of Confederate monuments around the state, universities within the commonwealth are dealing with the remnants of the Confederacy and of systemic racism that remain on their campuses today.

Virginia universities in the former heart of the Confederacy are reckoning with their past as students, faculty and staff call for the removal of Confederate symbols.

Richmond housed the capital of the Confederacy from 1861 to 1865. Over 150 years later, remnants of the commonwealth’s Confederate history remain, including in academia.

At least 71 symbols of the Confederacy were removed from public spaces in Virginia last year, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. That includes multiple renamings of public schools. Only one symbol was removed prior to the murder of George Floyd.

Gov. Ralph Northam sent a letter to school board chairs in the commonwealth last July, urging public officials to change names and mascots that memorialized Confederate leaders.

“When our public schools are named after individuals who advanced slavery and systemic racism, and we allow those names to remain on school property, we tacitly endorse their values as our own,” Northam stated. “This is no longer acceptable.”

Several months later, the University of Virginia in Charlottesville removed the name of Confederate soldier Henry Malcolm Withers from a law school building.

The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg approved the renaming of Trinkle and Maury halls. Trinkle Hall was named for former Virginia Gov. Elbert Lee Trinkle who signed Jim Crow legislation, according to the college’s board. Maury Hall was named for Matthew Fontaine Maury, who resigned his post as a U.S. Navy commander to join the Confederacy and helped it acquire ships.

The Virginia Military Institute in Lexington paid over $200,000 to remove a statue of Stonewall Jackson and relocate it to the Virginia Museum of the Civil War and New Market Battlefield State Historical Park.

University of Richmond

Anthony Lawrence, an accounting major at the University of Richmond, is president of the Richmond College Student Government Association. He established a space for multicultural students in the student commons his freshman year and is currently working to remove Confederate symbols on campus.

The university has two campus buildings named for men associated with slavery and segregation.

Ryland Hall is named for slave owner Robert Ryland, the first president of Richmond College, the University of Richmond’s predecessor. Ryland also served as a pastor to the first African Baptist church in Richmond, according to the university. He called slavery a “divine right” and routinely enslaved and loaned slaves to others during his time as president, according to university researchers.

Mitchell-Freeman Hall was first named for Douglas Southall Freeman, who graduated from the university and served on the board of trustees. The university updated the name of Mitchell-Freeman Hall on Feb. 24 to honor former Richmond Planet Editor John Mitchell Jr. who was Black. Freeman was a journalist who advocated for segregation through “the Virginia Way” which suggests the elite have a duty to guide others, according to UR researchers.

“If they want to have the historical impact that they say they do, there can be more, much more, done than a name on a building to tell the historical story,” Lawrence said.

Lawrence suggested plaques that explain the buildings’ history to inform students without honoring Confederate leaders. The university also could require a course to teach about the history of the university and associated officials. There is currently no explanation for the building names on campus, Lawrence said.

“There’s nothing that’s really stopping them from changing the name except for their own, I guess, stubbornness,” Lawrence said.

The Black Lives Matter movement helped people examine the names and roles of campus buildings, Lawrence said.

“It can come to a head now because of the wonderful activism that we’ve seen in these past couple of years,” Lawrence said. “This past summer has really been an example of what can happen when we see change.”

Students formed The Black Student Coalition in March to advocate for the wellbeing of Black students.

“Now it’s impossible for the administration; it’s impossible for the board of trustees to silence us because we’re so strong, and because we have this coalition, and because we have each other,” Lawrence said.

Six percent of Richmond students identify as Black, according to the university. This makes Lawrence a minority student leader on campus.

“It’s exhausting but the work is rewarding in a way that I don’t think I ever would have known,” Lawrence said.

Virginia Commonwealth University

The board of visitors at Richmond-based Virginia Commonwealth University voted in September to remove Confederate symbols from campus. The decision came after more than three years of review.

More than a dozen dedicated spaces, memorials and plaques will be removed from both campuses, according to the university. The decision includes de-commemorating buildings with Confederate affiliation, such as the Jefferson Davis Memorial Chapel. Davis was the president of the Confederacy.

“The committee’s analysis revealed a more complete story of the meaning behind these memorials and commemorations that we can neither ignore nor celebrate and that impede our mission to serve all,” stated VCU President Michael Rao.

Washington & Lee

Washington & Lee University in Lexington is named for former U.S. President George Washington and Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. Lee was president of the college for five years and the name was changed to Washington & Lee upon his death in 1870. Lee is buried on the campus.

Students walked out of the university in late March to support dropping Lee’s name, according to WVTF. The board of trustees began soliciting input in July 2020 on the university’s name and Confederate symbols. The board will issue a final decision on the name in June, according to a statement by Rector Mike McAlevey.

Some professors also favor changing W&L’s name, including Mohamed Kamara, an associate professor of French and Africana studies. Kamara has been teaching at W&L since 2001 and was a founding member of the Africana Studies Program.

Kamara was drawn to the university because of the physical environment and academic freedom the administration offered him.

“I am here because I love Washington & Lee, so that same love that I had for it when I first came here, I still have it,” Kamara said.

Kamara supports the student protests because of the effectiveness of protests in American history. He said the American Revolution was a protest of sorts where American colonists resorted to violence against Great Britain.

“Most of what has been achieved in terms of positive development have been done through protests,” Kamara said.

*Demonstrators pulled down the Richmond Howitzers Monument at Virginia Commonwealth University (June 2020). Photo by Andrew Ringle, The Commonwealth Times.*

Changing the name of the university would harm no one, Kamara said. It would save Black students the trauma of dealing with the institution of slavery when they come across the university’s name.

“It brings that memory that is not pleasant at all,” Kamara said.

Black people still feel the aftereffects of slavery even though it ended in the U.S. over 156 years ago, Kamara said.

“For those of us who are members of the Black race, we will back Washington for what he did for the university and Robert E. Lee for whatever he did for the university,” Kamara said. “But at the same time, we cannot ignore that component of the history that subjugated people like us.”

Washington and Lee were both slave owners, though Lee’s name is often the one brought up during renaming discussions, Kamara said.

“I believe that issue is going to come up,” Kamara said. “There was a time when nobody talked about removing Lee’s name.”

Kamara is fine with removing only Lee’s name, but he believes changing the whole name is an opportunity for the university to take an extra step.

“It may make sense, as a sign of goodwill, as a sign of good faith to be ahead of our times,” Kamara said.

Written by Katharine DeRosa, Capital News Service. Top Photo: Ryland Hall at the University of Richmond is named for slave owner and former Richmond College president Robert Ryland. Photo courtesy of the University of Richmond.

Marijuana Possession and Cultivation Could Be Legal By July

VCU CNS | April 5, 2021

Topics: Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Board, chelsea higgs wise, General Assembly 2021, Kaye Kory, marijuana decriminalization, Marijuana Justice, marijuana legalization, Ralph Northam, Virginia Cannabis Control Authority, Virginia Legislative Black Caucus

Marijuana was originally scheduled to become fully legal in Virginia in 2024, but now Governor Northam has listened to advocates and is now working to move up the timeline, potentially making it legal this summer.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam amended legislation to accelerate the legalization of marijuana possession and home cultivation in the state to July as opposed to 2024.

“Virginia will become the 16th state to legalize marijuana — and these changes will ensure we do it with a focus on public safety, public health, and social justice,” Northam stated in a release.

The governor proposed changes to House Bill 2312 and Senate Bill 1406, which passed earlier this year during the Virginia General Assembly’s special session. The bills legalized marijuana possession and sales by Jan. 1, 2024, but marijuana legalization advocates and Democratic lawmakers lobbied to push up the date for possession.

“This is an historic milestone for racial justice and civil rights, following years of campaigning from advocates and community groups and a strong push by the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus,” the group Marijuana Justice stated in a press release.

Marijuana Justice seeks to legalize the use and possession of marijuana. The group advocates for communities most impacted by the criminalization of drugs with their “legalize it right” campaign.

The bills allow adults 21 years of age or older to legally possess up to one ounce of marijuana if they don’t intend to distribute the substance. Virginia decriminalized marijuana last year and reduced possession penalties to a $25 civil penalty and no jail time for amounts up to an ounce. In the past, possessing up to half an ounce could lead to a $500 fine and 30 days in jail.

Individuals can cultivate up to four cannabis plants without legal repercussion, with punishments ranging from misdemeanors to jail time if over the limit. The governor’s amendments would allow households to grow up to four plants beginning July 1. The plants would need to be labeled with identification information, out of sight from public view, and out of range of people under the age of 21.

Legislators will review the governor’s proposals during the General Assembly’s reconvened session on April 7, according to Del. Kaye Kory, D-Falls Church, one of more than two dozen legislators who sponsored the House bill.

Chelsea Higgs Wise, executive director of Marijuana Justice, said legalizing simple marijuana possession now rather than later is important for racial justice.

“Waiting until 2024 to legalize simple possession and therefore stop the desperate policing is allowing this continued bias enforcement against Black Virginians to continue for three years,” Wise said.

Accelerating the legislative timeline is key, Kory said.

“The figures show that it is much more common for a Black or Brown person to be charged with possession,” Kory said.

A state study released last year found that from 2010 to 2019 the average arrest rate of Black Virginians for marijuana possession was more than three times higher than that of white residents for the same crime — 6.3 per 1,000 Black individuals and 1.8 per 1,000 white people. This is despite the fact that Black Virginians use marijuana at similar rates as white residents. The conviction rate was also higher for Black individuals. Northam stated that people of color were still disproportionately cited for possession even after marijuana was decriminalized.

The original legislation established the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority as the regulatory structure for the manufacture and retail sale of marijuana and marijuana products.

The governor’s amendments would allow the authority to revoke a company’s business license if it interfered with union organizing efforts; failed to pay a prevailing wage as defined by the U.S. Department of Labor; or classified more than 10% of employees as independent contractors.

Lawmakers grappled with the dangers of juvenile use of marijuana, Kory said, and the impact of use on developing brains.

Marijuana Justice wants to remove the delinquency charge that designates marijuana possession a crime, not a civil penalty, if committed by someone underage. The penalty is still up to $25.

“Instead of punishment, young people should be evaluated for appropriate services that address the root causes of their usage,” Marijuana Justice stated.

The amendments would fund a public awareness campaign on the health and safety risks of marijuana. The changes also would train law enforcement officers to recognize and prevent drugged driving. Northam stated that his amendments include “explicit language directing ongoing support for public health education.”

The bill established a Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Board tasked with providing youth mentoring programs to marginalized youth and those in foster care, as well as providing scholarships to children who have been negatively impacted by marijuana in their family or community.

The current expungement of marijuana-related crimes is set for July 1, 2025. Northam’s new amendments call for marijuana-related criminal records to be expunged and sealed “as soon as state agencies are able” and to “simplify the criteria” for when records can be sealed. This will allow individuals convicted with marijuana offenses to be resentenced, according to the new amendment.

The bills originally passed along party lines. No Republicans voted for either bill, and several Democrats in the House did not vote on either measure. Sens. Richard Stuart, R-Montross, and Jill Vogel, R-Warrenton, stated that the governor’s amendments helped assuage their original concerns.

The conservative, faith-based organization The Family Foundation told supporters Thursday to contact their representatives and urge them to vote against the accelerated timeline.

The organization stated that violent and nonviolent crime rates have increased in states that have legalized marijuana, citing an opinion piece from a police defense group.

“It’s always been about generating more tax revenue to finance the ever-expanding state bureaucracy, creating massive fortunes for those who would use marijuana (like gambling) to prey on our most vulnerable citizens, and catering to a generation increasingly void of moral standards,” stated Victoria Cobb, the foundation’s president.

Written by Sam Fowler, Capital News Service. Top Photo: Members of the group Marijuana Justice at a press conference in January 2020 to support the legalization of marijuana in the commonwealth. Photo by Emma Gauthier/CNS.

The End Of Virginia’s Death Penalty

Kate Seltzer | March 17, 2021

Topics: capital punishment, Dale Brumfield, death penalty in Virginia, General Assembly 2021, lynchings in Virginia, Ralph Northam, Virginians For Alternatives to the Death Penalty

Thanks to Governor Ralph Northam and the General Assembly, Virginia’s long tradition of imposing the death penalty is headed for a permanent end in the near future. We look back at the history to see why this is a positive development for the commonwealth.

With Governor Ralph Northam expected to sign a bill that passed through the General Assembly earlier this year, abolition of the death penalty in Virginia seems all but certain.

“It’s really a revolution in criminal justice reform for Virginia, because we’ve executed more people in Virginia than in any other state, including Texas,” said Dale Brumfield, field director for Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (VADP) and an expert on capital punishment in Virginia.

“We’ve executed 1,390 people since 1608, so for Virginia, the former Capitol of the Confederacy, the most killing state in the United States, to end it is just a jaw-dropping revolution in criminal justice reform.”

As Virginia moves into a new era of criminal justice reform, Brumfield reflects on a painful past.

1608 – Captain George Kendall is executed by firing squad for treason in colonial Jamestown.

1632 – Jane Champion becomes the first woman executed in the state of Virginia.

“She was a married woman, but she had an affair with another colonist in Jamestown, and she got pregnant by him,” Brumfield said. “So she was facing double jeopardy: she got pregnant out of wedlock by another man, and she was having an affair, so she was in a no-win situation.”

Champion concealed the birth of her child, which was a capital offense in and of itself at the time. She was eventually convicted for infanticide, but Brumfield says that there is compelling historical evidence to suggest the child was stillborn. As for the man she had an affair with?

“[He] was supposedly scheduled to be hanged also, but there’s no record of him ever being hanged,” Brumfield said. “They don’t think he ever was.”

So began a long and painful history of unjust executions in Virginia.

“Since then, Virginia just started executing like sons of bitches,” Brumfield said. “We just kept killing and killing and killing. Throughout the colonial era, Virginia executed 500 slaves before emancipation. That accounts for 86 percent of all slave executions nationwide.”

According to Brumfield, there were 66 crimes that counted as capital offenses for enslaved people. “They couldn’t turn around without committing a capital crime back in those days,” he said.

1787 – Virginia executes a 12 year-old enslaved boy for murder. Virginia also executed a 13 year-old enslaved boy for arson.

The state-sponsored killings continued through the Civil War and Jim Crow era.

“The Jim Crow era was an interesting era for Virginia and the death penalty, in that the link to lynching becomes very apparent,” Brumfield said.

During that period, there were about 100 lynchings in Virginia. Though it sounds like a lot, the number is relatively low compared to states like Texas, Georgia, and Arkansas, which saw 400 to 500 each. Brumfield says this is in part because the lynchings went by another name in Virginia: state executions for capital offenses.

“One of the reasons was Virginia got so good at catching, convicting, and executing young Black men for crimes against whites, usually against white women,” he said. “They could do it so fast that it was legal lynching.”

1908 – Virginia begins use of the electric chair for executions. Of the first 100 people executed in it from 1908 to 1920, 87 were Black – the electric chair became a “tangible symbol of white supremacy.”

In these trials, Black men were accused of crimes ranging from rape to scaring a white schoolgirl (attempted criminal assault, officially). Most of the time, these men had no legal counsel. Often, they were mentally disabled, or their conviction relied on the testimony of a child, if there were eyewitnesses at all.

“The trials would last less than an hour,” Brumfield said. “The jury would be out five or six minutes and would come back with a verdict of death. Thirty days later, that Black man is put to death.”

Of the 89 women who were executed in all of Virginia’s history, 11 were white, and the rest were Black. Of those 11 white women, nine were executed prior to 1800.

“White women were like unicorns on death row.”

1962 – Electric chair “loses elegance”; Virginia places de facto moratorium on executions.

1972 – US Supreme Court rules that death penalty is unconstitutional.

1976 – US Supreme Court reverses itself, allowing for states to resume executions with mandates implemented on how they must apply capital punishment.

1982 – Virginia resumes executions with Frank Coppola, a white man.

1982-2017 – Virginia executes 113 people, second only to Texas during the same time frame.

“It’s a horrible history,” Brumfield said. “Any reasonable person would look at Virginia’s execution history and just be outraged by it.”

So why, after 413 years of capital punishment, are talks about its abolition possible now? Brumfield says a few factors converged at just the right time.

“Unfortunately, it took the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor to shine a spotlight on criminal justice reform and Black Lives Matter,” he said. The BLM movement played a huge role in highlighting the racial disparities in the criminal justice system, of which capital punishment is a key part.

Weirdly, Brumfield says, Northam’s blackface scandal also played a significant role.

“That made governor Northam dedicated to removing racial disparities from our laws and statutes in Virginia,” he said. “When he came out that day out of nowhere, and said ‘I’m supporting abolishing the death penalty in Virginia this General Assembly session,’ it caught us all off guard. But what a happy way to be caught off guard, to have the governor come out and say that and be actively involved in pushing this legislation through the General Assembly.”

Lastly, the Trump administration’s execution at the federal level of 13 people in the last six months of his presidency was eye-opening to people, Brumfield said.

“Many people were horrified by that assembly line of executions going on.”

Brumfield said that the ultimate decision to abolish the death penalty by the Virginia legislature would not have been possible without the advocacy of several groups besides VADP, including the Virginia Interfaith Center and the ACLU of Virginia.

When Brumfield joined VADP four years ago, his first task was to talk to Republican and Libertarian groups around the state about the death penalty, “about the process and how screwed up and bloated and corrupted it was.” That’s over now, though VADP will continue to exist for at least a year to defend the decision if need be.

“I kind of worked myself right out of a job,” Brumfield said.

Top Photo: Florida Department of Corrections/Doug Smith. Public Domain, via Wikimedia

Virginia Will Join 22 States In Abolishing The Death Penalty

VCU CNS | February 26, 2021

Topics: death penalty, death penalty in Virginia, General Assembly 2021, Ralph Northam, Scott Surovell

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 chambers of the Virginia General Assembly on Monday.

In a release issued earlier this month, Gov. Ralph Northam said he looks forward to signing a legislation that outlaws the death penalty.

Under current state law, an offender convicted of a Class 1 felony who is at least 18 years of age at the time of the offense and without an intellectual disability faces a sentence of life imprisonment or death.

The identical House and Senate bills eliminate death from the list of possible punishments for a Class 1 felony. The bills do not allow the possibility of parole, good conduct allowance, or earned sentence credits. The measures will also reclassify capital murders to aggravated murders.

The move will change the sentence for the two remaining inmates on death row to life imprisonment without eligibility of parole, good conduct allowance, or earned sentence credits.

House Bill 2263, introduced by Del. Mike Mullin, D-Newport News, passed the Senate Monday on a 22-16 vote following a lengthy floor debate. While both parties reached an agreement on eliminating the death penalty, Republicans argued for a proposed amendment to remove the possibility of a shortened life sentence.

Under current state law, judges are able to suspend part of life sentences, with the exception of the murder of a law enforcement officer. Neither bill will change this policy.

In Monday’s hearing, Sen. William Stanley, R-Franklin, argued for a floor substitute that would replace capital murder charges with a mandatory minimum life sentence. The government should not have the ability to sentence people to death due to the possibility of false convictions, but those who commit “heinous” crimes should never face the possibility of parole, he said.

“If you kill multiple people, or under the circumstances under our death penalty statute, you should not see the light of day,” Stanley said. “You should not taste liberty and freedom again.”

Sen. Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, who sponsored the Senate bill that passed the House, said adopting Stanley’s amendment would introduce 14 new mandatory minimum life sentences.

“I think it’s awfully presumptuous for us to just decide that these 14 situations deserve this one and only punishment,” Surovell said.

Sen. Joseph D. Morrissey, D-Richmond, furthered the argument against the amendment by mentioning a Washington Post article on the recent release of Joe Ligon at age 83. Ligon was sentenced to life imprisonment at 15 years old, pleading guilty under the impression that he would be eligible for parole 10 years later, Morrissey said. He was released from prison after serving 68 years.

“That seems to be inconsistent,” Morrissey said, referring to Stanley’s argument that while juries can get it wrong, a convicted person sentenced to life imprisonment should never be able to seek parole. “If you get it wrong, and somebody is executed, you can also get it wrong when you sentence somebody to life in prison.”

Judges currently have the authority to ensure life sentences and will have the same authority with the bill’s passage, Surovell said.

The floor substitute by Stanley was rejected.

*“Prison Bars Jail Cell” by JobsForFelonsHub is licensed with CC BY 2.0*

Concluding the hearing, Surovell offered final remarks on the importance of Virginia’s step to abolish the death penalty. He believes the new measure speaks to the commonwealth’s humility and value of human life.

“It says a lot about how our commonwealth is going to move past some of our darkest moments in terms of how this punishment was applied and who it was applied to,” Surovell said.

Surovell hopes that the measure’s passage will “send a message to the rest of the world that Virginia is back to leading on criminal justice.”

Northam; House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn and Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw issued a joint statement regarding the legislations’ passages.

“Thanks to the vote of lawmakers in both chambers, Virginia will join 22 other states that have ended use of the death penalty. This is an important step forward in ensuring that our criminal justice system is fair and equitable to all.”

Written by Christina Amano Dolan, Capital News Service. Top Photo courtesy of the Virginia General Assembly website.