Category: Crime, Corrections, Law Enforcement
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A Curious Concern for Criminals
by Kerry Dougherty For more than 20 years Virginians didn’t have to worry about their parole board springing dangerous criminals. The revolving prison doors had been shut tight by Gov. George Allen’s Truth-in-Sentencing legislation in 1995. In essence, that law meant that a 20-year sentence guaranteed that the criminal would actually serve 20 years, with…
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Mark Herring’s Worst Thanksgiving – Conspiracy Against EVMS may lead to Federal Involvement
by James C. Sherlock Scandals are sometimes overrated. Not this one. I have reported here before on the strange case of the EVMS-ODU merger. I posted here on Nov 1, Nov 2 and Nov 3 with my own concerns on the subject. Many of my assessments came to fruition. On November 13 and 20, the Checks…
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Anti-Marijuana Laws Are Racist… and So Is the Marijuana Industry!
Attorney General Mark Herring is full of praise for the just-released Joint Legislative and Audit Review Commission report on marijuana legalization. As he notes in a press release today, criminalization of marijuana disproportionately impacts African-Americans and other Virginians of color. But the press release makes an observation that I’ve never seen before: The marijuana industry…
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A Big Election Day for Marijuana
by DJ Rippert Rolling stoned gathers no moss. Marijuana reform has been gaining momentum in the U.S. since California became the first state to legalize medical marijuana in 1996. Today 36 states have either enacted medical marijuana access laws or are in the process of implementing such laws. In 2012 Colorado and Washington became the…
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Fifty Pounds of Weed in Arlington = Probation?
by DJ Rippert This landing may get bumpy. In late 2018 a chap was on a plane that landed at Reagan National Airport. He undoubtedly had the usual tools of travel — toothbrush, shave kit and clean socks. However, he also had 50 pounds of marijuana and 400 cartridges of hashish oil. Perhaps he got…
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Would a Mobile Crisis Team Have Saved Marcus-David Peters?
by James A. Bacon Marcus-David Peters, fatally shot in 2018 by a Richmond police officer while in the midst of a mental health crisis, has become an icon for criminal justice reform in Virginia. Protesters occupying the area around the Lee statue on Monument Avenue erected a sign (since removed) designating Lee Circle as Marcus-David…
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Who Owns the Streets?
by James A. Bacon A rag-tag assortment of leftists, anarchists and Black Lives Matter protesters have occupied Lee Circle on Richmond’s Monument Avenue for months now. Mayor Levar Stoney has given them de facto control over the small but prominent piece of real estate, and police have refrained from responding to any but the most…
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All Public Order, Like All Politics, Is Local
by James C. Sherlock Progressives everywhere consider their precious theories more important than actual outcomes. The fact that people get hurt along the way is part of the price they willingly pay for political power. To paraphrase James Lindsay: In fact, you only need to know two key ideas: critical theory is radically skeptical that…
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The “Rat Pack” Makes the Point
By Peter Galuszka On July 26, 1948, President Harry S. Truman took the historically enormous step of integrating the U.S. Armed Forces. The Virginia Military Institute, which prides itself on its warrior panache, didn’t get around to that until 1968 and even today there are serious questions about racism at the state-supported school. The past…
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Senator Warner’s Odd Silence on Violence
by Emilio Jaksetic Since the tragic death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020 at the hands of a police officer, there have been thousands of (mostly peaceful) demonstrations and hundreds of riots and civil disturbances in towns and cities across the United States. Some took place in Richmond, Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Fredericksburg and other…
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Virginia’s Driving-in-the-Dark Bill Is Dead
by Kerry Dougherty Finally. A bill so boneheaded that even Gov. Ralph Northam couldn’t sign it. I’m talking about HB 5058, which contained a driving-in-the-dark measure that would have prevented police from pulling over motorists tooling about at night without headlights, tail lights or brake lights. You know, those “add ons” for cars that no…
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Parole Board Sets Free Another Murderer
Letter from Sen. Bill DeSteph, R-Virginia Beach, sent yesterday to Governor Ralph Northam. Dear Governor Northam, In August 2019, the Parole Board denied Harry J. Williams, DOC # 1008730, parole. These are the reasons they gave Mr. Williams: His history of substance abuse. The serious nature and circumstances of his offense(s). His prior failure(s) and/or…
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Germs, Guns and Schools
by James A. Bacon Twenty days into the school year, more than one in five (21.2%) of students in Richmond Public Schools have been chronically absent, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Chronic absenteeism has always been a problem in the school system, but it’s worse in 2020 — up three percentage points from last year.…
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Does Racism Still Reside At VMI?
By Peter Galuszka On this blog, at least, there has been plenty of grief at the University of Virginia over controversies involving diversity. But over at Lexington, a town not far away, an even bigger battle involving the issue has been engaged. Black students and alumni at the Virginia Military Institute, the state’s public military…
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The November Election, Marijuana and Northern Virginia
By DJ Rippert Up for grabs. In about three weeks Americans who haven’t already voted will go to the polls and vote. The presidency, the U,S, House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate are all in play. Regarding the impact of the legalized adult use of marijuana in Virginia, the U.S. Senate is the key.…