Category: Crime, Corrections, Law Enforcement
-
“Repressive Tolerance” and the Constitutions of the United States and of Virginia
by James C. Sherlock In the United States, the first references for judges and attorneys are the federal and state constitutions. The Constitution of the United States, in its First Amendment, requires that: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech,…
-
Buta Biberaj and the Political Weaponization of the Loudoun Commonwealth’s Attorney Office – Against Other Democrats and the Press
by James C. Sherlock Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney Buta Biberaj (D) has used the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the tool that opens up government to citizens, in an attempt to destroy political opponents and intimidate the press. Ms. Biberaj has admitted to investigating her political rivals using FOIA requests to view correspondences between county…
-
Continuing Turmoil at Danville and Martinsville Hospitals Raises Questions of Oversight – Again
by James C. Sherlock Beckers Hospital Review reports that Sovah Health hospitals in Danville and Martinsville have eliminated the Chief Operating Officer (COO) positions at both hospitals. Sovah announced that the responsibilities of those two positions will now be absorbed by “other members of the existing team.” Whatever that may mean. Management turmoil at Sovah…
-
Crime in Virginia — the Statistics of Race and their Causes
—
by
in Children and Families, Civil Rights, Individual Liberties, Corruption and Scandals, Crime, Corrections, Law Enforcement, Culture wars, Democracy and Western Civilization, Demographics, Education (K-12), Efficiency in Government, General Assembly, Governance, Government Finance, Health Care, Housing, Land use & Development, Mental illness and substance abuse, Politics, Public safety & health, Race and Race Relations, Regulations, Gov’t Oversightby James C. Sherlock Crime, especially violent crime, is a constant topic in private conversations and in public politics, and thus here on Bacon’s Rebellion. Comments on BR crime-related articles turn quickly to race, often without basis in fact. I will offer below the actual crime statistics by race from 2021, the latest available year,…
-
UVa Takes Steps to Protect Students from Increasing Crime in Charlottesville
by James C. Sherlock The University of Virginia has to be careful what its officials say because of the ongoing lawsuits over the November massacre. But the school is taking concrete steps to address the spike in violent crime in Charlottesville. I congratulate them. UVA Today ran an article on those initiatives on March 15th. In…
-
Why Shouldn’t Virginia’s Felons Have To Ask Their Voting Rights Restored?
by Kerry Dougherty Lemme make sure I understand this: Virginia’s ACLU, that left-wing organization that sat on its derriere during Gov. Ralph Northam’s unconstitutional closure of churches and businesses, is suddenly active again. Its lawyers want Virginia’s convicted felons to automatically get their voting rights back, even if they haven’t made restitution to their victims…
-
Correction on Departure of Balow
by Dick Hall-Sizemore In comments to the post about the resignation of Jillian Balow as Superintendent of Public Instruction and her severance pay, I asserted that her appointment was subject to the pleasure of the Governor. I was wrong. The heads of almost all agencies, by law, serve at the pleasure of the Governor. (There…
-
Recruitment, Training and the Otieno Tragedy
by James A. Bacon Earlier this month, five Memphis police officers were charged with the murder of Tyre Nichols, a young Black man, after severely beating him during a traffic stop. Predictably, the mainstream media framed the story as an example of systemic racism in policing, even though all five police officers also were Black.…
-
RVA 5×5: Heard the Noise, Seen The Light
by Jon Baliles Well, it seems Mayor Levar Stoney has finally picked up on a problem on Richmond’s streets that many of us have known about for three-plus years. If you live downtown, or in the Fan, Oregon Hill, Jackson Ward, the Museum District, Randolph, Scott’s Addition, Byrd Park, Malvern Gardens, parts of Northside, Monroe…
-
Soft-On-Crime Va. Democrats’ Offal Proposal
by Kerry Dougherty Oh look. Another garbage bill courtesy of Virginia’s soft-on-crime Democrats! Want to see what’s coming our way if Dems regain control of the General Assembly and Governor’s Mansion? Check out SB1080. Yep, a gaggle of Virginia’s leading lefties pushed a measure that would classify felons younger than 21 as JUVENILES. Virginia law…
-
Virginia Democrats Want to Deal With Criminals 18-20 in the Juvenile Justice System
by James C. Sherlock I received an update yesterday from the NAACP on legislation that caught their interest in the 2023 General Assembly. One bill that did not pass, but got party line Democratic support in the Senate Judiciary Committee, in turn caught my eye. It was SB 1080 Juvenile and domestic relations district courts;…
-
Putting Victims First. For A Change.
by Kerry Dougherty Imagine for a moment that you are the victim of a violent crime. The perpetrator has been arrested and you thought he was about to go on trial when you learn that your local prosecutor — one of those squishy soft-on-crime types who was bankrolled by George Soros — already entered into…
-
Norfolk’s Progressive Prosecutor Comes Under Fire
by James A. Bacon Excellent reporting by the Virginia Mercury’s Jim Morrison highlights the debate in Norfolk over the rising homicide rate since 2020. In this two-part series (here and here) he describes how the city’s “progressive” Commonwealth Attorney Ramin Fatehi, who campaigned on the premise that structural racism is the root cause of criminality,…
-
School Discipline: Inflexible Rule or Common Sense?
by Dick Hall-Sizemore During the height of the war on drugs, schools adopted “zero-tolerance” policies. No student was allowed to possess any drug of any kind, even an aspirin or a prescription medication for which he had a prescription. Any such products had to be deposited with the school nurse and taken in the presence…