Action Alert

Now that crossover is behind us, please use the below tool to find your elected representatives in the General Assembly and encourage them to support our priority legislation that’s coming from the other chamber. Template emails are below the “Find Your Legislators” tool.

Contact Your Delegate and Senator

Find your Legislators

Template Email for House of Delegates Members

Dear Delegate LAST NAME,

I am writing in support of criminal justice reform legislation that has crossed over from the Senate. Criminal justice reform is an important issue for me and many Virginians. At this pivotal moment for the Commonwealth, I urge you to support the following bills:

SB 1 – Removes the suspension of driver’s licenses for nonpayment of court fines/costs.
SB 72 – Opens a Public Defender office to service Prince William County and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park.
SB 116 – Abolishes use of the death penalty for cases where the defendant has a severe mental illness.
SB 326 – Allows juries to recommend leniency while sentencing, giving a voice to the community affected by the crimes committed.
SB 489 – Grants authority to the prosecutor to defer or dismiss a case.
SB 723 – Creates regular and uniform reporting of pretrial data that is already being collected by criminal legal systems across the Commonwealth, and makes the data public.
SB 805 – Creates degrees of robbery, eliminating the archaic “five to life” blanket sentence for all offenses in this broad category.
SB 806 – Gives defendants a way to request expert funding without disclosing trial strategy.
SB 811 – Allows a defendant to determine whether a judge or jury performs the sentencing in their case.

The reform community is excited at the possibility of passing meaningful reform this session, and your support for this topic will be noted and appreciated.

Thank you for your time and consideration,

YOUR NAME

Template Email for State Senate Members

Dear Senator LAST NAME,

I am writing in support of criminal justice reform legislation that has crossed over from the House of Delegates. Criminal justice reform is an important issue for me and many Virginians. At this pivotal moment for the Commonwealth, I urge you to support the following bills:

HB 100 – Informs potential jurors during jury selection about the potential range of sentences they may need to impose, bringing Virginia up to speed with the 5 other states with jury sentencing.
HB 256 – Makes disorderly conduct on school property an issue for the school system to handle, not the criminal legal system.
HB 366 – Opens a Public Defender office to service Prince William County and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park.
HB 477 – Raises age at which a juvenile can be charged as an adult from 14 to 16.
HB 824 – Gives defendants a way to request expert funding without disclosing trial strategy.
HB 869 – Requires pay parity between the employees of the Commonwealth’s Attorney and the Public Defender, paid by the governing body of that jurisdiction.
HB 873 – Expands discovery procedures to be more open, giving defendants access to more information about their case.
HB 1196 – Removes the suspension of driver’s licenses for nonpayment of court fines/costs.
HB 1462 – Changes the pretrial system so that the prosecutor has to prove that a defendant has to be held pretrial, instead of assuming every accused person must be held.