Rescheduled Justice Reform Lobby Day! Friday, January 17th, 2025!
Due to widespread water issues in the city of Richmond, The General Assembly Building has closed until Monday January 13. Not even a pandemic stopped us from advocating evidence-informed criminal justice reforms, and neither will a temporary building closure! So with that said, we have rescheduled Justice Reform Lobby Day to Friday, January 17th, 2025!!! We hope that you'll be able to join us. If you were previously registered you’ll need to re-register. And if you weren’t registered before and would like to attend, please register too HERE.
We’re excited to advocate alongside our partners the Virginia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (VACDL) and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) to protect and expand the progress we’ve already made to reform Virginia’s criminal legal system by advocating to prohibit youth shackling, ensuring access to record sealing, protecting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and mental health disorders, advancing urgent pretrial reforms and more. You can find a full listing of our legislative priorities HERE.
What: Justice Reform Lobby Day
When: Friday, January 17, 2025
Where: Richmond, Virginia
Who: Free and open to anyone interested in advocating for criminal justice reform, not just for lawyers!
How: REGISTRATION REQUIRED—register by January 13, 2025.
If you haven’t attended one of Justice Forward Virginia’s lobby days in the past, oh are they ever fun! Truly one of the highlights of our year as an organization, when we all wake up well before sunrise to meet in downtown Richmond, get fired up over bagels and coffee at our morning mixer and debriefing, then head to the General Assembly building in Lobby Day teams for our scheduled meetings with Virginia lawmakers. There’s absolutely no prior lobbying experience required—each Lobby Team will be led by a Lobby Day Team Leader with considerable experience. If you can be available to meet with legislators for part or all of Lobby Day, you are welcome to register.
Ahead of Justice Reform Lobby Day, registrants will receive their Lobby Day Team assignments, detailed information about the issues, the impact of proposed legislation, and why it's important to make the proposed reforms this year. We hope you will register and join us on January 17th!
*In annual fashion, we will also hosted our Annual Virtual Prep Rally on January 2, 2025 on Facebook Live to prepare advocates with in depth education and opportunity for discussion about the criminal legal reforms being advocated this year. You can watch the archived video HERE.