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The primary purpose of The Virginia Redemption Project is to match currently incarcerated individuals with pro bono lawyers to assist them in completing their clemency petitions. Having counsel through the clemency process greatly increases the chances of success, and the joint effort hopes to ensure that those who are most at risk of illness from COVID-19 and who cannot afford a lawyer have access to meaningful review.
Read MoreFind out about the progress made last week in the Special Session and about what’s making news in Virginia related to criminal justice reform. August 15-21, 2020
Read MoreVirginia law currently ensures that no one convicted of a crime can ever have that offense removed from their record. The law also does not allow for the expungement of some kinds of offenses from your record, even if you were not convicted of that offense. The permanence of criminal records in Virginia are a racial justice issue that needs to be addressed in the upcoming special session.
Read MoreFind out about what’s making news in Virginia this week related to criminal justice reform. August 8-14, 2020
Read MoreStill have questions about police reform as we approach the special legislative session? Tune in on August 12 from 6:30-8:00pm when we're bringing back some of the most popular guests from our "Get Informed About Police Reform" explainer series!
Read MoreFind out about what’s making news in Virginia this week related to criminal justice reform. August 1-7, 2020
Read MoreWhile many are calling for their increased use, the promise of body worn cameras is turning out to be overstated. Evidence shows that body worn cameras don’t significantly change police behavior or reduce use of force by police. Instead, the benefit of BWCs is that they provide documentation after the fact, rather than changing police behavior or reducing racial disparities in policing.
Read MoreFind out about what’s making news in Virginia this week related to criminal justice reform. July 31, 2020
Read MoreOn August 5, join Vernida R. Chaney (President, NoVa Black Attorneys Assoc.), national justice reform expert Premal Dharia (Defender Impact Initiative) and Justice Forward's own Andy Elders for an expert panel on why mandatory minimums don't work, and why they ought to be repealed -- ALL of them, not just those applicable to nonviolent offenses.
Read MoreIn Virginia approximately 55% of schools have police officers assigned to then, about twice as many as in 2020. The increases were implemented with the the hopes that having police in school would make our kids safer, but the real impact seems to be that more and more students are being referred to police for disciplinary problems that could be handled at school. The overreliance of policing in schools has led to victimization and violence against our children, especially Black children, and has ultimately led to children being less safe.
Read MoreOriginally touted as a tool to deter serious crime and eliminate sentencing disparities, mandatory minimum sentences have had no measurable impact on deterrence and have coincided with the mass incarceration of African American citizens.
Read MoreA misdemeanor is a criminal offense punishable in Virginia by a fine up to $2500 or jail time up to 12 months. Despite being minor offenses, misdemeanors have impacts on the lives of the individuals charged far greater than the charge implies. From remaining in jail while awaiting trial if bail can’t be procured or accepting a plea just to get out of jail, just the accusation of a misdemeanor can turn a defendant’s life upside down. This is followed by a criminal record that lasts a lifetime (expungement is not allowed) and can prevent a person from getting jobs and housing as well as increase the likelihood of being arrested again.
Read MoreVirginia law limits what punishments jurors are allowed to recommend. They can’t recommend alternatives to jail or fines - including probation, treatment, rehabilitation, or community service. This practice is unfair to both juries and to defendants and should be changed.
Read MoreOn July 28, join Professor Julie McConnell and public defenders Brad Lindsay and Ashley Shapiro for an expert panel on why school resource officers are so problematic, and why Virginia's assault on police statute is much more controversial than the name would imply.
Read MorePart III of Justice Forward Virginia’s “explainer” series on criminal justice issues is Civilian Oversight Done Right: Transforming Policing Through Robust Civilian Review. We've assembled almost ALL of the statewide experts on this subject: Fairfax NAACP, Legal Aid Justice Center, and the Richmond Transparency and Accountability Project. Don’t miss this one!
Read MoreVirginia’s current law allows prosecutors to force a defendant into a jury trial, which means a jury sentence, if convicted. Sentencing ranges often require juries to give a minimum sentence that don’t apply to judges and juries are not allowed to be told about or recommend alternatives to incarceration, such as probation, drug or mental health treatment, or community service. A simple change that allows defendants to choose sentencing by a judge is one step toward a more fair system.
Read MoreIn Virginia, law enforcement operates under a shroud of secrecy with far less democratic accountability than our other public institutions. Civilian Oversight Bodies (sometimes referred to as Civilian Review Boards or “CRBs”) in Virginia are limited in power under current state law. Police departments are able to control the Oversight Bodies’ access to the data, evidence, witnesses, and personnel files that they need for meaningful oversight.
Read More“I smell marijuana.”
Three magic words with the power to make constitutional rights disappear.
Merely uttering those three magic words gives any police officer in Virginia the power to search your house, your car, your briefcase, your pockets, or even your body, without a warrant or your consent.
Read MorePretextual policing is the practice of stopping someone for a minor traffic violation in order to conduct investigations unrelated to the reason for the stop. In Virginia, there is an extraordinarily low standard under the law, and it’s often abused.
Read MoreVirginia’s Assault on a Law Enforcement Officer statute makes what is often a minor offense a felony and has a mandatory minimum sentence of 6 months in jail. This statute’s elevated punishment structure has other troubling effects on the criminal justice system: (1) It gives the police officer extraordinary power to punish those who insult or otherwise defy them, including people of color who are victims of excessive force, and (2) It intimidates the accused into taking plea offers in cases where the accused would prefer to take the case to trial.
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