A group of Commonwealth’s Attorneys has released a letter to the General Assembly calling for more criminal justice reform. In the letter, the Virginia Progressive Prosecutors for Justice (VPPFJ) call for automated expungement of criminal records, ending mandatory minimum sentences, ending cash bail, abolishing the death penalty, and ending the “three-strikes” felony enhancement for petty larceny.
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Gov. Gretchen Whitmer Monday signed a package of 20 criminal justice reform bills into law.
The bills, championed by the bipartisan Michigan Joint Task Force on Jail and Pretrial Incarceration, are intended to prioritize incarceration alternatives and grant law enforcement officers more discretion when issuing appearance tickets rather than making arrests; and restructure penalties for traffic offenses.
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The Michigan Senate passed bipartisan criminal justice reform bills that aim to protect public safety, keep nonviolent offenders out of jail, and make it easier for people to get jobs.
House Bills 5844 and 5854-5857 aim to reform a wide range of mandatory minimum sentences to allow judges discretion in sentencing nonviolent, minor crimes to account for collateral damages of the criminal justice system like broken families.
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During potentially the final day of the lengthy 2020 special session, Senate legislators adopted and passed the conference committee report on a bill that allows judges in certain criminal cases to issue the sentences instead of the jury.
The conference report that was unanimously agreed upon by the six conferees, two Republicans and two Democrats, passed the Senate by an almost exact party line vote of (Y-22 N-16).
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At the 41st annual GOP Pig Roast U.S. Senate candidate Daniel Gade warned that American values are at risk if the Democrats gain power.
“The Left in the United States have decided that now is the time when they come after our values. And they’ve openly said what they’re going to do if, God forbid, they win the presidency and if, God forbid, they win and they take the Senate,” Gade said in his speech.
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The Virginia House of Delegates passed its two-year $134 billion budget on Tuesday with specific funding for rental and utility assistance, public education, internet access, affordable housing, criminal justice and police reform.
The revised budget from the House does not perfectly lineup with the proposed budget Governor Ralph Northam presented to the General Assembly at the beginning of the 2020 special session.
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The Virginia House passed four more pieces of criminal justice reform legislation that will be sent to the Senate, including mandatory local mental health teams, more restrictions on police acquiring military surplus weapons and an expansion of the earned sentence credit program.
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Legislation that would have banned the enforcement of mandatory minimum sentencing in Virginia was killed in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday after some Democrats joined Republicans in their opposition.
Senate Bill 5046, sponsored by Sen. John Edwards, D-Roanoke, effectively would have ended all mandatory minimums in Virginia by halting their enforcement for offenses committed on or after Jan. 1, 2021. Although reforming mandatory minimum laws has bipartisan support, SB 5046 did not provide exemptions for violent crimes, such as murder or rape, which led to it ultimately failing.
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Thursday morning on The John Fredericks Show, host Fredericks welcomed Virginia Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax to discuss special session reform priorities.
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Police officers and criminal justice reform advocates share some common ground going into Virginia’s special session to address policing reform, but the two groups break apart on some of the more controversial reforms.
“We are as repulsed by bad police officers … as anyone [else],” Wayne Huggins, executive director of the Virginia State Police Association, told Virginia House members Thursday during the last criminal justice reform hearing ahead of the special session, which convenes Aug. 18.
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Ohio House Democrats introduced three new pieces of legislation Thursday aimed at reforming police officer conduct in the state.
With the addition of these three new proposals, House Democrats have introduced four pieces of legislation this week that focused on police conduct and procedures. House Bill 706, the first bill the Democrats introduced on Tuesday, focused on implementing more training for state law enforcement.
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Ohio House Democrats introduced a bill Wednesday that seeks to implement more training for state law enforcement officers.
In House Bill 706, whose primary sponsors are state Reps. Erica C. Crawley (D-Columbus) and Thomas West (D-Canton), would require police to undergo training in de-escalation techniques, mental health issues, implicit bias.
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You can reflexively oppose anything the left supports and almost never to worry about being wrong. Unfortunately, many conservatives have fallen for the shiny object that is being dangled in front of them by the left called, “criminal justice reform.”
The American criminal justice system is not perfect and like any other system, there are always improvements and corrections that can be made. Unfortunately, most of the reforms the left is suggesting make things worse, not better.
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In October, something that has been very underreported happened. It is something that Tennesseans should know about and be very worried about.
One of Governor Bill Lee’s pet objectives is criminal justice reform. In October, while speaking to the GOP Senate Republican Caucus, Lee said, “We can empty our jails in the same way that some other states have done. I know we can do that.”
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A Michigan task force established by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has recommended a number of sweeping changes to the state’s criminal justice system, including lowering probation terms and reclassifying most traffic offenses as civil infractions.
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As he prepared to announce his candidacy for president on Sunday, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg took a page from an old political playbook.
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Featuring Governor Bill Lee as the keynote speaker, Men of Valor, the men’s Christian prison ministry, held an all-day criminal justice reform conference Wednesday at the Millennium Maxwell House Hotel in downtown Nashville.
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Gov. Ron DeSantis wants the Florida Supreme Court to issue an advisory opinion on whether convicted felons must pay all fines and fees before their voting rights are restored under Amendment 4, the November 2018 ballot measure approved by 64.5 percent of state voters.
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On Tuesday’s Tennessee Star Report with Steve Gill and Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – Gill chatted with Governor Phil Bryant of Mississippi who was in town for the National Conference of State Legislators in Nashville today to talk about his commitment to criminal justice reform.
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NASHVILLE, Tennessee – A symposium on criminal justice reform held in Nashville featured an hour-long conversation between Governors Bill Lee of Tennessee and Matt Bevin of Kentucky. The symposium was held in the “appellate courtroom” at the Randall and Sadie Baskin Center of the College of Law, located on the…
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In a specific discussion on Monday morning’s Tennessee Star Report with Steve Gill and Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – host Steve Gill talked in depth with the Beacon Centers CEO, Justin Owen about the…
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On Wednesday’s Tennessee Star Report with Steve Gill and Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – Gill and Leahy talked with State Rep. Glen Casada (R-Franklin), the incoming Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives about…
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In terms of legislation, 2018 may be considered one of Ohio’s most impactful years in recent history. From the approval of the first medicinal marijuana dispensary to new abortion limitations, 2019 will see a dramatic change for many Ohioans. Compiled below are ten of the most significant changes coming to the…
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by Henry Rodgers Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the U.S. Senate will take up a criminal justice reform bill backed by President Donald Trump, on the House floor Tuesday morning. McConnell said in his speech it is likely the Senate will work between Christmas and New Year’s, “if…
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On Tuesday’s Tennessee Star Report with Steve Gill and Michael Patrick Leahy and special guest co-host, Harriet Wallace of Fox 17 – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am –spoke to newly elected official Senate Majority Leader, Jack Johnson of Williamson…
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Men of Valor, a local ministry working with the incarcerated and formerly incarcerated in Middle Tennessee, is preparing to host their largest-ever Annual Breakfast Tuesday, where organizers say more than 1000 people are expected to gather for the once-a-year fundraiser. “We’re thrilled to have such a large turnout this year,” Men of Valor…
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