Category: Crime, Corrections, Law Enforcement
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What Do We Owe To and Expect from a Special Ed Teacher?
by James C. Sherlock On February 16, USA Today published a story by Jeanine Santucci. That is the latest in an excellent series of reports on the shooting of Newport News first grade teacher Abigail Zwerner. Her article, “Virginia 6-year-old who shot his teacher exposes flaws in how schools treat students with disabilities.” raises questions that Virginians…
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Virginia Law Enables School Violence – School Board Policies Can Correct It
by James C. Sherlock In 2019, the National Education Association (NEA) published Threatened and Attacked By Students: When Work Hurts, urging lawmakers to address the crisis of unsafe behaviors in schools. Read about Chesterfield schools in that article. Unfazed, progressives in 2020 in full control of the General Assembly, led by now-Congresswoman-elect Jennifer McClellan, looked…
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Stop Coddling Bad Kids
by Kerry Dougherty I have a new hero. I don’t know her real name but in her Southeast Washington D.C. neighborhood, they just call her “Grandma.” Last Friday Grandma was on her way to chemo when a 15-year-old punk walked up and ordered her to hand over her car keys. “I have a gun,” he…
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General Assembly: Status of Selected Issues
by Dick Hall-Sizemore The General Assembly is scheduled to adjourn on Saturday, February 25. Time to check on the status of some issues that have been discussed on this blog. Budget bill. The budget bill contains not only the usual appropriations, but also all those tax cuts proposed by the Governor. There is activity behind…
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Richmond’s Crime-Infested Neighborhoods, Terrible Public Schools and Equity
by James C. Sherlock It’s Black History Month. Even in Richmond. As a contribution, I am going to review the facts on the ground in Richmond — in its most crime-ridden neighborhoods and its worst public schools. Which are overwhelmingly Black. And co-located. In a city with a Black mayor and a Black school board.…
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Times-Dispatch Omits Facts Instead of Including Them
by Jon Baliles Public safety is one of every locality’s largest and most important responsibilities. If the sidewalks, streets, and neighborhoods are not safe, people go to places where they are. Walkers, joggers, businesses, customers, and everyone else won’t go to places where they feel their safety in in jeopardy. At the same time, that…
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Child and Adolescent Mental Health and Virginia Public Schools – The Epidemic of Risky Behaviors and Experiences in Adolescents
by James C. Sherlock The 2021 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) Data Summary & Trends Report: 2011–2021 , was released by the CDC on Monday, provides the most recent surveillance data, as well as 10-year trends, on health behaviors and experiences related to adolescent health and well-being among high school students in the United States. The survey was completed…
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Unlikely Partners On Prison Reform Legislation
by Dick Hall-Sizemore The Washington Post recently ran an article that demonstrates that there is still hope for bipartisan cooperation in a hyper-partisan environment on an important issue. The legislators involved were Del. Glenn Davis (R-Virginia Beach), former candidate for Lieutenant Governor, chair of the House Committee on Education, and carrier of many of the…
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Virginia Senate Approves Early-Release Bill for Many Inmates
by Hans Bader The Virginia Senate has voted 24 to 15 to approve SB 842, the so-called “second look” bill. If it becomes law, inmates who have been in prison for 15 years or more could ask to be released, or ask for a reduction in their sentences. Originally, the bill applied to inmates of…
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Joe Morrissey Banned from Henrico Jails
by Jeanine Martin Last weekend Senator Joe Morrissey (D-Richmond) was banned from two Henrico County jails when he brought his three young children to Regional Jail West and refused to supervise them. His ban lasts for 90 days. Morrissey came to the jail to introduce one of his incarcerated constituents to an attorney who would…
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School Discipline – Part 5 – How and When Democrats Broke Virginia Public Schools
by James C. Sherlock We read earlier today that the eminent developmental theorist Urie Bronfenbrenner has written: The more we study human development, the more it becomes clear the family is the most powerful, most humane and, by far, the most economical way of making human beings human. That truth, however, does not account for…
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As Much As We Want to Support the Boys in Blue…
…sometimes we end up with cases like this one. Richmond Police Officer David Edward Stone, a Louisa County resident, was arrested last week on 50 child pornography charges. Stone has served on the Richmond police force since 2006, reports The Daily Progress. Society needs police to protect against criminals. And the Richmond police have been…
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RVA 5×5: Annual Crime Briefing Numbers
by Jon Baliles The Richmond Police Department held its annual crime review briefing this week and the numbers were positive on the surface, a little mixed in total, and almost miraculous considering the force has more than 150 vacancies. Mark Bowes writes in the Times-Dispatch that “The good news for the city of Richmond from…
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AG Miyares Takes Aim At Lawless Parole Board
by Kerry Dougherty Never was the left’s affection for criminals more apparent than in the spring of 2020 when Virginia’s Parole Board, under the leadership of self-confessed “bleeding heart” Adrianne Bennett went on a madcap freeing spree. According to an exhaustive 66-page report released this week by Attorney General Jason Miyares, Bennett’s actions during just…