A bill in the Virginia General Assembly, submitted by Delegate Rae Cousins (D-Richmond), would allow convicted criminals in the commonwealth to petition for their sentence to be terminated after serving 15 years, regardless of the crime they committed.
Cousin’s HB 855, according to the bill’s summary, “Provides a process for a person serving a sentence for any conviction or a combination of any convictions who remains incarcerated in a state or local correctional facility or secure facility” and meets criteria established in the law.
According to the text of the bill, criteria Cousin’s bill would require judges to consider when contemplating whether to release a criminal after 15 years inside Virginia’s penal system include the age of the convicted criminal at the time their petition was filed, “history and characteristics” of the convict seeking release, “Whether the petitioner was the victim of domestic or sexual abuse at the time of the defense,” reports from “mental, physical, or psychiatric examination” of the convict, plus the “petitioner’s acts of service, leadership, or mentorship engaged or developed independently” while incarcerated.
Proponents have called the bill a “second look” law, and on Tuesday, 13 News Now reported that Cousin’s bill had the support of the Virginia American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
Others have questioned the possible outcomes of the law, which would allow even serial killers to petition for their release after 15 years in prison, and cited studies linking a decrease in incarceration to an increase in crime.
Critics also cited as well as the recent restoration of law and order in El Salvador, which came after the country increased its prisons. El Salvador now boasts the world’s highest incarceration rate and falling crime rates.
The Virginia Senate passed similar legislation in 2022 and 2023, but it did not survive in the Virginia House of Delegates, which Republicans then controlled.
The bill may face better odds in 2024, as Democrats now have marginal control over the Virginia General Assembly.
Additionally, Delegate Carrie Coyner (R-Chesterfield), who supported similar legislation in 2022 and 2023, indicated he may support the bill in remarks to The Richmond Times-Dispatch, in which he declared he is “a believer that people can be redeemed rehabilitated” and “that we should do everything we can to have people as free and independent of our government as possible.”
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
