Criminal Justice + Policing
Greene County commonwealth’s attorney asked state officials to cut his pay in half. They said no.
Greene County Commonwealth’s Attorney Matt Hardin ran on a campaign promise to cut his office’s budget. But when he contacted the state about cutting his pay for prosecuting crimes in the locality of 18,000, the state said no. “I think that makes sense in places like Charlottesville or Fairfax, but country lawyers aren’t making that […]
Virginia marijuana arrests hit highest levels in a decade
A friend was giving him a ride to work at a fast food restaurant in Hanover County when a sheriff’s deputy pulled them over to investigate whether the car’s window tint violated state law. The officer asked to search them. Sure, he said, totally forgetting the burnt end of a joint in his pants pocket […]
Virginia to ban women from wearing tampons while visiting prisons
Women visiting inmates in state prisons will no longer be allowed to wear tampons under a new policy that goes into effect next month. Officials said the policy, enforced using body scanners, aims to crack down on contraband. “If someone chooses to visit a Virginia Department of Corrections inmate, he or she cannot have anything […]
Thousands of Virginia inmates are believed to have hepatitis C and can’t access the cure
The state treated Elmo Augustus Reid’s hepatitis C once before. It didn’t work. An inmate at the Buckingham Correctional Center in Dillwyn, Reid was treated in 2013 once he had fibrosis, or scarring, on his liver. He was given drugs that had been used to treat hepatitis C for years, but with little likelihood of […]
Virginia Beach sues drug companies over opioid crisis
Joining a growing list of counties and cities in Virginia, the city of Virginia Beach filed a lawsuit today against the drug companies it claims are responsible for the opioid epidemic gripping the state. The city follows in the footsteps of more than a dozen other Virginia localities, mostly in the southwestern part of the […]
Handcuffed and in crisis: With a shortage of nearby beds, police drive mental patients across the state for treatment
In late July, two police officers in Abingdon helped two children into the back of a cruiser. The kids, 11 and 14 years old, hadn’t committed any crimes, and they weren’t on their way to the police station or to a juvenile detention center. They were going to mental health treatment facilities in Petersburg and […]
State officials say they no longer use ‘restraint chairs’ detailed in immigrant abuse allegations
Virginia juvenile justice officials say the state hasn’t strapped a child in their custody to a chair since 2015. “We don’t feel it’s necessary to use things like that,” Andrew Block, the director of the Department of Juvenile Justice, told members of the Board of Juvenile Justice at a meeting on Wednesday. But that’s not […]
Fixing a ‘tarnished relationship’ between police and communities
Ever since I was a small boy I have always admired police officers. Due to the senseless civil war that plagued my country for more than a decade, my family was victimized by a home invasion by the rebels who invaded the capital city of Sierra Leone. They entered our home and violated our space […]
24/7 vigilance, a live-in lawyer and embracing activism: two months of claiming sanctuary in a Richmond church’s basement
A knock on the locked church doors prompts an unexpected line of interrogation from a congregation member inside: ‘”Who are you? Why are you here?” It’s hard to hear through the heavy glass and the tone is surprisingly tense for a sunny afternoon on a quiet street outside a house of worship. The door eventually […]
Attorney general says plan to arm teachers in Lee County is unlawful
Attorney General Mark Herring said in an opinion Tuesday that a plan approved last month by the Lee County School Board to arm teachers is unlawful. “For five years in a row the General Assembly rejected specific proposals to arm teachers, so there’s really no ambiguity,” Herring said in a statement. In an effort to get […]
Judge issues injunction on posting plans for 3-D printing of guns, but they may still be online
Twenty-one attorneys general, including Virginia’s Mark Herring, won a preliminary injunction Monday against a company that wanted to distribute plans to print plastic guns from 3-D printers online. “The Trump administration’s reckless plan to make 3D-printed guns widely available and easily accessible was one of the most dangerous ideas I have ever heard,” Herring said […]
Watchdog group says more investigation needed at Staunton-area jail where immigrant teens alleged abuse
A watchdog group with federal investigative authority says it is continuing to probe allegations of abuse made by immigrant teens held in a juvenile jail outside of Staunton. A report released Monday by state officials failed to substantiate the claims. “Based on what we know so far, we believe further investigation may be needed,” said […]