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Bill To End Virginia Roadway Fatalities Got Zero Support In Committee

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Virginia legislators tabled a bill during the regular General Assembly session that pledged to end roadway fatalities. The move disappointed road safety advocates, but supporters say they’re still committed to advancing policies to protect pedestrians and drivers.

House Joint Resolution 100 was a commitment to the Vision Zero initiative, which seeks to end roadway fatalities by 2050 and cut them in half by 2030. The legislation received no support in a House subcommittee and died in the transportation committee.

On average two people died and at least 18 people were injured daily in Virginia traffic crashes in 2020, according to the bill resolution statement. Almost 850 people were killed in Virginia that year, and over 110 were pedestrians. Nearly 7,000 people were seriously injured that same year due to traffic crashes, and over 370 were pedestrians.

Traffic Backup on I-95 North at the Intersection with the Downtown Expressway in Richmond. Photo provided by VDOT website.

Del. Kaye Kory, D-Fairfax and Sen. Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, patroned the resolution. 

Vision Zero originated in Sweden in 1997. The program is a strategy to achieve a transportation system with no deaths or serious injuries, through policy, equity and improved traffic death reporting data, according to the initiative’s website. It has since been adopted in several countries and 51 U.S. communities as of August 2021, including Richmond, Alexandria, Arlington and Norfolk. The proposed resolution would have adopted the safety initiative for the entire state.

Traffic deaths and serious injuries can be eliminated by taking proactive and preventative measures such as proper engineering, enforcement, evaluation and education, the strategy states.

Richmond and Alexandria cities were early adopters of the Vision Zero plan in Virginia. Alexandria adopted its Vision Zero plan in late 2017. At least 1,000 residents, visitors, employees and business owners were active in the Vision Zero action plan process, according to the City of Alexandria website. 

Alex Carroll manages street infrastructure and safety initiatives in Alexandria while working on Vision Zero with other partners such as the Alexandria Police Department. Alexandria’s team has completed education campaigns to inform people of their rights and responsibilities when using roads. They also provide monthly classes that incorporate Vision Zero training to city employees who drive city vehicles.

Vision Zero’s goal to end traffic deaths and injuries is ambitious, but the city is dedicated to the initiative, Carroll said. 

“We’re committed to getting as close to that as we can,” Carroll said.

Localities committed to the Vision Zero initiative help highlight the initiative, Carroll said. 

“Virginia is starting to pay more attention to Vision Zero and traffic safety,” Carroll said. “They’re all taking the lead from localities like Alexandria and Arlington and others as well as the federal government to integrate safety more into what they do.”

Over 30 high-visibility crosswalks have been installed in Alexandria, along with permanent crossing improvements and new signals at high pedestrian crash locations, according to a third year progress report by the Alexandria Families For Safe Streets group.

Pedestrian crosswalk. CNS File photo.

Bike Walk RVA, an initiative of the active lifestyle organization Sports Backers, is one of the organizations involved with Vision Zero in Richmond. Bike Walk RVA supports pedestrian and bicycling-friendly infrastructure through citywide projects, according to the program’s website. 

Brantley Tyndall, director of outreach at Bike Walk RVA, said the resolution’s failure was disappointing. 

“It will be a setback to life-saving measures,” Tyndall said.

Sarah G. Taylor, the assistant city manager and legislative director of Alexandria, said she is disappointed that the bill died in committee, but thinks groups will continue to make progress.

Lawmakers passed other transportation safety legislation like Senate Bill 247 and House Bill 920, which advocates said are positive steps forward. A driver can face misdemeanor charges and have their license suspended if found guilty of careless driving that kills or seriously injures a vulnerable road user, such as a pedestrian or bicyclist.

“There’s not one bill. There’s not one law. There’s not one study. There’s not one thing,” Taylor said. “It’s what are all the things that we can put together that in combination make our roads safer for cyclists, pedestrians and vulnerable road users.”

Written by Faith Redd, Capital News Service. Top Photo: Emma Gauthier

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

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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. 

Photo by Richard T on Unsplash.

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. 

Photo by Matthew Brodeur on Unsplash.

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.

Virginia Will Join 22 States In Abolishing The Death Penalty

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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

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.

Advocates Frustrated by Democratic Leadership on Police Reform

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The General Assembly has made progress on police reform in Virginia, but for advocates and progressive legislators, passing reform of qualified immunity is an essential piece of the puzzle.

Virginia has made headlines in recent months for criminal justice reform measures but advocates say more needs to be done. They are disappointed that lawmakers in both chambers of the General Assembly recently killed proposals to reduce qualified immunity protections for police officers. 

State lawmakers so far this session have advanced bills to legalize marijuana, remove mandatory minimum sentences, and abolish the death penalty. During the special session called last year, the General Assembly banned police from using no-knock search warrants and chokeholds.

Qualified immunity shields government officials from civil liability while performing duties in their line of work, as long as their actions don’t violate “clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known,” according to a Congressional Research Service report. 

House Bill 2045, introduced by Del. Jeff Bourne, D-Richmond, would have given citizens the power to pursue damages in state civil lawsuits where their rights were violated by a law enforcement officer. The bill also placed a cap on an individual officer’s liability. Bourne’s proposal was tabled 6-2 in the House Courts of Justice subcommittee. 

Senate Bill 1440, sponsored by Sen. Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, was a narrower proposal that provided a path for lawsuits when an officer used excessive or deadly force and neck restraints. The bill died in the Senate Judiciary Committee in a 9-5 vote.

Qualified immunity is a federal doctrine established by the Supreme Court in 1982. A state legislature can’t repeal qualified immunity, but proponents of ending the practice have asked local and state governments to create legislation allowing citizens more freedom in pursuing lawsuits against police misconduct. 

During a subcommittee hearing, Bourne questioned opponents of his bill who he said consider themselves to be proponents of constitutional rights and law and order.

“It seems when we’re talking about this, and when we’re talking about people getting hurt and their constitutional rights deprived by law enforcement officers,” Bourne said, “the story becomes different.”

A portrait of Marcus-David Peters sits at the base of the Robert E. Lee monument on June 20. Photo by Andrew Ringle

Princess Blanding is a gubernatorial candidate who has advocated for criminal justice reform since the death of her brother, Marcus-David Peters. Peters was naked and unarmed when he was shot by a police officer on the side of a highway. Peters charged at the police officer who deployed his Taser and then shot Peters at least twice. Peters was experiencing a mental health crisis, according to his family. 

Blanding said eliminating qualified immunity is a necessary step to end discrimination and achieve racial justice in the commonwealth. 

“It’s like no matter what we do to prep our kids, our loved ones, it is still going to be our fate because of the pigmentation of our skin, coupled with the fact that there is no accountability,” Blanding said. “To me, that’s the harsh reality.” 

Kalia Harris, co-host of the show Race Capitol and co-executive director of the Virginia Student Power Network, or VSPN, said she was “extremely disappointed” when a judge dismissed her organization’s lawsuit against local government and local and state police. VSPN said city leaders and law enforcement violated the group’s right to free speech, assembly, and protest. Last June, VSPN students hosted an overnight teach-in outside Richmond City Hall. After several hours, the Richmond Police Department declared the event an unlawful assembly and discharged teargas and rubber bullets at the protesters.

“That night is still on replay in my head,” Harris said during the House subcommittee meeting. “Words can’t explain the trauma that we experienced.”

Blanding said it’s difficult for victims of police brutality to get lawyers to take on a qualified immunity case due to the power of police unions and the relationship of prosecutors to officers.

Blanding also said if the number of positive interactions the public has with officers outweighs the instances of police misconduct, the few suits alleging misconduct should not have an issue proceeding to court. It is important to recognize that police misconduct causes irrefutable damage and changes families lives’ forever, Blanding said.

“What we have to understand is that, when you take somebody’s life, you can’t take out the magic eraser, and erase it and try it again,” Blanding said. “You cannot press restart.” 

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

Harris said the ability to sue law enforcement agents for misconduct was the “bare minimum” of a judicial system that works for everyone.

“It doesn’t mean that they’re going to all be convicted,” she said. “It does mean that folks are able to see their day in court.” 

Police officers do not qualify for qualified immunity if they cannot demonstrate the actions that they took were reasonable, said Wayne Huggins, the executive director of the Virginia State Police Association. He said officers must prove they upheld the U.S. Constitution, the laws of the commonwealth and the policies of their individual department. 

“The word that needs to be focused upon and understood is qualified,” Huggins said. “We have to qualify for that immunity.”

Officers can be denied qualified immunity if the Supreme Court or local federal appeals court finds another officer’s conduct under the same circumstances is illegal or unconstitutional, according to the Institute for Justice. The officer automatically qualifies for immunity if a case with the same circumstances does not exist. 

Harris and Blanding said they hope to see legislation reducing qualified immunity protections introduced again. This is the second time that Bourne’s qualified immunity measure failed. 

Harris said the “Democratic trifecta” means very little to her if Democrats don’t use their majority to pass progressive legislation that voters support. All 100 of Virginia’s House of Delegate seats are up for reelection in 2021. Harris said legislators unwilling to pass comprehensive police reform will face progressive challengers this June. 

“If they’re not passing meaningful legislation, then we have to really push what it means to be blue, and start to think further outside of the box,” Harris said. 

Written by Josephine Walker, Capital News Service. Top Image: “Prison Bars Jail Cell” by JobsForFelonsHub, CC BY 2.0.

Virginia House and Senate Advance Bills to Abolish Death Penalty

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Governor Northam has voiced his support for abolishing the death penalty in Virginia, and now both houses of the General Assembly have voted in favor of abolishing it as well.

After over 400 years of conducting more executions than any other state, Virginia may become the first Southern state to abolish the death penalty. 

The Virginia Senate and the House of Delegates each passed identical bills this week to abolish the death penalty. Virginia would become the 23rd state to abolish capital punishment if either bill advances in the other’s chamber and is signed by the governor.

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 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. Judges are able to suspend part of life sentences, with the exception of the murder of a law enforcement officer. 

Senate Bill 1165, introduced by Sen. Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, passed the Senate on a 21-17 vote. House Bill 2263, introduced by Del. Mike Mullin, D-Newport News, passed the House Friday on a 57-41 vote. Three Republicans supported the House measure.

Any person previously sentenced to death by July 1 will have their sentence changed to life imprisonment without eligibility for parole, good conduct allowance, or earned sentence credits. According to the House bill’s impact statement, there are two Virginia inmates on death row, but no execution date has been set for these inmates as of December. 

In a floor hearing earlier this week, Mullin discussed how the measure would ultimately save money, as the death penalty is a “huge financial burden on the commonwealth.” Virginia spends approximately $3.9 million annually to maintain four capital defender offices, which only handles capital cases, according to the House bill’s fiscal impact statement. The measure will likely eliminate the need for these offices. 

“If we keep the death penalty in place, we are prolonging an expensive, ineffective, and flawed system,” Mullin said. 

Del. Michael Mullin

Mullin said Virginia has a dark history of extreme racial bias and occasional false convictions within the judicial system. 

Referencing the 1985 case of Earl Washington, Mullin argued the commonwealth “knows the risks of killing an innocent person very well.” Washington, a wrongfully convicted death row inmate, came within nine days of his execution. 

“Perhaps the strongest argument for abolishing the death penalty is that a justice system without the death penalty allows us the possibility of being wrong,” Mullin said. 

In a debate during Friday’s House vote, defenders of the death penalty called attention to the victims of capital cases. Del. Jason S. Miyares, R-Virginia Beach, told his colleagues that “these victims are begging not to be forgotten.” He argued that executing those who commit the “ultimate crimes” is justice, not vengeance. 

“That’s what the death penalty is … it’s not revenge, it’s not eye for an eye, it’s our society, our civilization, holding someone accountable for their actions, allowing our juries to decide about the ultimate punishment,” Miyares said. 

Del. Mark H. Levine, D-Alexandria, a supporter of the bill, concluded the debate by speaking of his own painful experience. Speaking of his sister’s murder, Levine argued that the bill isn’t about him, his sister, or the victims, but about the state’s potential to kill innocent people. 

“I’ve seen evil, I’ve looked it in the face,” Levine said. “I know evil exists, there is no dispute about that. But taking an innocent person’s life — that’s evil, and it would be evil to be done by this General Assembly.” 

Gov. Ralph Northam said in a press release earlier this week that he looks forward to signing the bill into law. 

“The practice is fundamentally inequitable,” Northam said. “It is inhumane. It is ineffective. And we know that in some cases, people on death row have been found innocent.”

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

It’s Official: Conversion Therapy Is Now Illegal In Virginia

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Governor Northam signed a bill outlawing the practice on Monday, bringing years of struggle by LGBTQ advocates to a victorious end.

Virginia has officially become the 20th state to prohibit conversion therapy for minors, and the first in the American South. House Bill 386, introduced by 47th District Delegate Patrick Hope, passed both houses of the General Assembly with some bipartisan support, and this week it crossed Northam’s desk and made it into Virginia law.

“This issue is personal for me, as a pediatric neurologist who has cared for thousands of children,” Northam said in a statement released to accompany the signing of the bill. “Conversion therapy is not only based in discriminatory junk-science, it is dangerous and causes lasting harm to our youth. No one should be made to feel wrong for who they are — especially not a child. I’m proud to sign this ban into law.”

Advocates were equally positive about Virginia’s passing of the ban on conversion therapy.

“As a survivor of this dangerous and fraudulent practice, I can’t fathom just how many young LGBTQ lives may be saved with these critical protections from conversion therapy,” said Sam Brinton of the LGBTQ youth suicide prevention group the Trevor Project in a statement. “At The Trevor Project, we hear from LGBTQ youth in crisis every day and we know that those who are subjected to conversion therapy are more than twice as likely to attempt suicide. This bold action will send a message to all LGBTQ young people in the great Commonwealth of Virginia that they are loved and deserve support.”

The new law prohibiting conversion therapy for minors will go into effect on July 1, but advocates have been working toward it for years now. Before Democrats gained control of both houses of the General Assembly earlier this year, bans against conversion therapy had repeatedly been proposed within both the Senate and House Of Delegates, but repeatedly failed to pass, and were often not even brought to a full floor vote in the House Of Delegates.

However, progress against this harmful practice did occur even before the General Assembly changed hands, as three different boards regulating mental health professionals in Virginia — the Board of Social Work, the Board of Psychology, and the Board of Counseling — all issued guidance prohibiting the practice in 2019. As well, multiple cities within the state, including Richmond and Virginia Beach, passed resolutions in 2019 asking the General Assembly for a ban on conversion therapy for minors.

Del. Hope’s bill was not the only conversion therapy bill introduced this year; in the state Senate, 36th district Senator Scott Surovell introduced a similar one, which also received significant support. The two bills were combined during reconciliation between the two houses of the General Assembly.

“Conversion therapy is a dangerous, destructive practice,” said Del. Hope in a statement. “We should be supporting and celebrating our LGTBQ youth, not putting them in harm’s way.”

Top Photo by Landon Shroder, RVA Mag file photo