Issues in Depth
Justice Forward Virginia supports comprehensive reforms to Virginia's criminal legal system, including those listed here, as well as many others. For detailed information about our work over the past three sessions (2020-21), click on “Issue Successes” and “2021 Priorities,” or visit our blog, Twitter feed or Facebook page.
A PDF of our 2022 Legislative Priorities can be found here: 2022 Justice Forward Virginia Legislative Priorities.
Mandatory Minimums and Racial Justice
Originally 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.
Post-Conviction: Parole, Clemency, etc
Virginia offers little incentive for prisoners to rehabilitate themselves, provides almost no chance at compassionate release or clemency, and once convicted of any crime in Virginia, no matter how minor, your record will follow you forever.
Pretrial Reform
Thousands of people who have not been convicted of a crime are in jail in Virginia while they await bail or for their cases to be resolved. A period of pretrial detention more than a day or two often upends a defendant’s life and can make it hard for them to prepare for trial. There are several pretrial reforms that will make this process more fair and reduce unnecessary time people spend behind bars.
Reconsideration of Sentences
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. As a result, an individual’s life can be forever altered, simply due to an arbitrary rule within Virginia’s code.
End the Trial Penalty
The Trial Penalty is the phenomenon that occurs when the government makes losing a trial such a frightening proposition—through the way they charge and prosecute the case—that any reasonable person would accept a plea bargain.
Police Reform
“Defunding” suffers from a messaging problem, but the concept is not controversial. It simply means reducing the role police and prisons serve in society while expanding services that make communities healthier, safer and more equitable.
Indigent Defense
Despite reform efforts in the past two decades, Virginia’s indigent defense system remains deeply flawed and fails to provide indigent defendants the guarantees of effective assistance of counsel required by federal and state law. Public defenders carry the majority of the load in representing Virginia's indigent accused, and they typically earn considerably less than prosecutors in the same jurisdictions.
Do Police in Schools Really Make Our Kids Safer?
In Virginia approximately 55% of schools have police officers assigned to them, about twice as many as in 2000. 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 over-reliance 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.
Drug Policy
While many states have taken steps toward sensible drug policy, Virginia remains steadfastly committed to the war on drugs. Even after the ‘20 legislative session, when the legislature decriminalized simple possession of marijuana, police can still stop & search individuals based on the odor of marijuana. That means pot-based policing will continue to be a source of racial disparities in the justice system.
Other Issues & Links to Criminal Justice Reform Organizations
Find out more about Virginia reform priorities, as well links to a variety of organizations in the Commonwealth that advocate for justice reform from across the ideological spectrum.