Ending Arbitrary Limits on Sentence Reductions

Virginia law currently allows a defendant to request a modification of their sentence at any time, as long as they are being held within a local detention facility. The very moment an individual is transported from a local jail to a state prison, however, they are completely stripped of their right to request a reconsideration. This rule even extends to an individual whose reconsideration motion is pending before court, leading to some absurd and cruel outcomes.

For context, our local detention facilities were erected with the purpose of holding individuals serving sentences of up to twelve months, while prisons (managed by Virginia Department of Corrections) are intended to house inmates serving a sentence greater than one year. However, a local jail may house an individual serving prison time on behalf of the Department of Corrections. This means that an individual serving a prison sentence may wind up serving their entire time within a local detention facility and never be transported to a state-run prison. On the other hand, they can also be swept up by the DOC in the dead of night and whisked away after only a few months, often with no apparent rhyme or reason.

So Why Does it Matter?

A judge can agree to hear a motion to reconsider and set it on their docket, usually an indication that they intend to reduce an individual’s sentence. For example, the Court can reconsider its five-year prison sentence for drug possession and decide to reduce it to one year, on the condition that the defendant complete an additional six month drug treatment program while in jail. However, if the Department of Corrections transports that individual to a prison facility at any time before the judge hears the motion, the Court loses the ability to hear the request, and the individual is then forced to serve out the entire five-year sentence. Cases like this are not uncommon, even in cases where the judge has decided to reduce the sentence. The effect, sadly, is that an individual’s life is forever altered, simply due to an arbitrary rule within our Virginia code. 

A Simple Reform

The solution is as simple as setting a uniform time-frame for all defendants to ask for reconsideration, regardless of whether they are currently serving time within a local detention facility or DOC facility. This time frame allows for someone serving a sentence to demonstrate to the court that they have reformed their behavior. It is also enough time for people to complete drug treatment within local jail facilities, a common basis for judges to reconsider sentences. Finally, proposed legislation would allow for a catch-all exception that would allow for reconsideration in the interests of justice. This would ensure that no person is forced to serve a lengthy sentence that even the sentencing judge deems unnecessary, merely because of a technicality or a clerk’s error.

We should let judges exercise their judgment in considering sentence reductions. Mass incarceration is now widely understood to be a societal ill, and we should give courts the ability to avoid excessive sentences whenever possible.