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Justice Forward VA

@JusticeFwdVa

27 Feb

Tonight, the Virginia General Assembly reportedly agreed on a marijuana legalization compromise that, from the perspective of racial justice, is worse than the status quo. How can that be? We’ll explain... 1/6

As we understand it, the compromise creates new crimes like possession in a vehicle & possession under age 21, and new pretexts like “transportation” & offering or consuming marijuana in a public place—all of which will be enforced disproportionately against Black Virginians. 2/6

Moreover, the bill is at most an aspirational policy statement—the benefits (legalization) aren’t effective until ‘24, and the legislation includes a reenactment clause, requiring virtually every aspect to be voted on again in ‘22. The vote this year basically doesn’t matter 3/6

Read 6 tweets

Justice Forward VA

@JusticeFwdVa

25 Feb

@VAHouseDems

ANOTHER #EndMandatoryMinimums tweet thread?! You’re DARN right it is?! We’ll stop when #VAGeneralAssembly ends them ALL—but in the meantime, nestle in (especially you @VAHouseDems) while we take you on a journey around the broad support the Repeal of Mand Mins has garnered. 1/13

@GovernorVA

Back in 2019, @GovernorVA said he was NOT going to sign anymore into law, adding, “imposing mandatory minimum sentences eliminates the discretion of judges and juries, and ties the hands of the individuals entrusted to make these important decisions.” washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/… 2/13

The notorious Virginia Crime Commission—many of you out of state advocates have asked where you can get one (lol)—officially recommended in January of 2021, that VA Repeal ALL of Virginia’s Mandatory Minimum Sentences. ALL of them. ALL. vscc.virginia.gov/2021/VSCC%20Ma… 3/13

Read 13 tweets

Justice Forward VA

@JusticeFwdVa

15 Oct 20

@VAHouseDems

False info regarding the “cost” of jury sentencing reform is jeopardizing the passage of SB5007 by @VAHouseDems. We’ve got the data that should put those costs arguments to rest for good. Ready? 1/3 @DelegateTorian @MarkSicklesVA @EFillerCorn @kmurphyva @JeionWard

Acc. to the Va. Crim. Sent. Comm’n, there were 24,648 guidelines sentencing events in 2019. Only 1.2% of those were from jury trials. That means a TOTAL of only 287 convictions resulted from jury trials all year. More than 24,000 were bench trials (8%) or guilty pleas (90%). 2/3

So, generously assuming that around 50% of jury trials result in acquittals, the total number of juries in the entire state is probably around 550 ALL YEAR. FOR THE ENTIRE STATE! About 5 per Commonwealth’s Att'ys Office

Facts, people! You can't ignore them! Pass SB5007 now! 3/3

Read 4 tweets

Justice Forward VA

@JusticeFwdVa

7 Sep 20

@IbraheemSamirah

Justice reform allies! You may have heard the great news that @IbraheemSamirah has requested a re-vote on HB5013, @JeffMBourne's modest partial repeal of qualified immunity. What you may not have heard is that we still need one more vote! 1/6

@KayeKory

@KayeKory, ordinarily an ally, abstained on Fri, but we're told she might reconsider. Also abstaining were @DelegateFowler & @CliffHayesJr. Dems voting against incl @DavidBulova, who famously marched in support of CJR recently, @shelly_simonds, @MarthaMugler & @SteveHeretick 2/6

@SenLouiseLucas

Heretick stands out bc he reps Portsmouth, where the police are engaged in a pattern of vindictiveness vs. pub defenders & his own colleague @SenLouiseLucas. If any dept sees itself as above the law, it's the one on his own turf. Yet he opposed even a tad more accountability 3/6

Read 6 tweets

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