Category: Courts and law
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Virginia Is for Lovers… Er, Lawyers
From a study by federal-lawyer.com: There are 21.23 applicants to law school per 100,000 population in Virginia — the ninth highest ratio for any state in the country. Leading the tally is our next-door neighbor, Washington, D.C., with 129.4 applicants, far exceeding the 29.15 per 100,000 ratio of runner-up New York. According to the American…
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Virginia Senate Committee Passes Second Look Bill
by Hans Bader Do all inmates deserve a chance for release? Even a serial killer, or a serial rapist who has been locked up and released before? They may soon have that chance in Virginia. In the state Senate, the Judiciary Committee has just approved the Second Look bill, SB 842. It would allow offenders…
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Virginia Community Schools Redefined – Hubs for Government and Not-for-Profit Services in Inner Cities – Part 1 – the Current Framework
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in Attendance, Charity, Philanthropy, Nonprofits, Children and Families, Civil Rights, Individual Liberties, Courts and law, Crime, Corrections, Law Enforcement, Culture wars, Discipline and Disorder, Education (K-12), Efficiency in Government, General Assembly, Health Care, Infrastructure, LGBQT, Mental illness and substance abuse, Political Influence, Poverty & income gap, Public safety & health, Social Services and Entitlements, Threat Assessmentby James C. Sherlock I believe a major approach to address both education and health care in Virginia’s inner cities is available if we will define it right and use it right. Community schools. One issue. Virginia’s official version of community schools, the Virginia Community School Framework, (the Framework) is fatally flawed. The approach successful elsewhere…
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RVA 5×5: Redefining 100 Percent Compliance
by Jon Baliles The recent stories from the City Jail have been anything but good — inmates dying far too often, staffing shortages leading to dangerous work conditions, deputies quitting, and the lack of leadership that can’t fill the vacancies while conducting lie detector tests on some of the staff that remain. Tyler Layne at…
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SCC Term Bill Could Break Deadlock on Vacancies
By Steve Haner A Northern Virginia state senator has introduced legislation to change the terms of the members of the State Corporation Commission, perhaps creating a path to compromise on picking two or more new judges. Political deadlock between the Republican-controlled House and Democratic-controlled Senate has stalemated that process for more than a year. Democratic…
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In Search of the Fountainhead of Religious Freedom in Virginia
by James Wyatt Whitehead, V A recent trip to study the Civil War battlefield of Fredericksburg brought me to stately Washington Avenue in one of Virginia’s most historic cities. The street is adorned with grand Victorian mansions and Kenmore, the colonial home of Fielding and Betty Lewis (George Washington’s sister). Here stands a statue to…
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The Shooting at Richneck Elementary – Part One
by James C. Sherlock There is trauma everywhere you look. A six-year-old boy shoots his teacher in school and we first consider the trauma. Then we look for ways to minimize its effects. And we simultaneously ask questions about the event itself. What happened and why? Unless we are personally involved, and even if we…
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All In The Family
by Dick Hall-Sizemore It is not just national Republicans that appear ready to tear into each other. A couple of Virginia Republicans have also been at it. Wren Williams is a first-term Republican Delegate from Patrick County. Marie March, also in her first term, is a Republican delegate from next-door Floyd County. The redistricting has…
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Politics, Virginia Style
by Bill Bolling It has been said that if you love politics, Virgina is a great place to be because there is an election every year! This year, 2023, will be no exception with all 140 seats in the Virginia General Assembly up for grabs. But 2023 will not be your typical General Assembly election…
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Afghan Immigrants and Their Children in Virginia – Part 2 – the Afghan Adjustment Act
by James C. Sherlock When I wrote Part 1 of this series, I promised further investigation into immigration of Afghan allies into Virginia. The Virginia Department of Social Services (VDSS), a hero in this story, has been entirely forthcoming in answering my inquiries. I will recount in a follow-up post their work so far. But…
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FOIA Council Responds on Request to UVa for Threat Assessment Team Records on Shooter
by James C. Sherlock On Sunday I asked the FOIA Council to provide an advisory opinion on the University of Virginia’s decision that information about that school’s threat assessment team deliberations in the case of the November shooter, Christopher Jones, will not be released as I requested. I received the answer this afternoon, which is…
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Indictments For Loudoun County School Officials
by Kerry Dougherty Looks like Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares just turned up the heat on Loudoun County. When he was elected, Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed an executive order calling for an investigation into what happened in Loudoun County Public Schools, where an alleged predator in a skirt reportedly got a pass for raping one…
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Great Investigative Reporting of a Heartbreaking Story
by James C. Sherlock For a story that will simultaneously make you angry and break your heart, read “Fathering While Black,” by Asra Nomani and Debra Tisler. It is the story of a guardian ad litem (GAL), Karen Keys-Gamarra, who is reported here to have systematically abused her position to pursue a Black father and…
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Threat Assessment Done Right — Virginia Tech
by James C. Sherlock Yesterday I harshly critiqued the structure, authorities and actions of the University of Virginia Threat Assessment Team. Today, in stark contrast, I offer Virginia Tech. Tech has complied with state law by simply doing what the law requires, and done it thoughtfully. As a result, Tech has established a far more…
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President Ryan’s Ship Has Hit the Shoals
by James C. Sherlock This is the Nov 16, 4:35 p.m. update to my highly controversial article on the failures of the University of Virginia to act against the alleged killer of three students before the crime. I was too gentle with the leadership of the University, my alma mater, in that article. I wrote…