Virginia Legal*Political Blog

While some commentators have lamented the decreasing number of lawyers serving in the Virginia legislature, there was no wholesale infusion of attorneys into the House of Delegates in yesterday’s elections.  Results show a possible gain of two additional lawyers in the House. In a closely-watched Northern Virginia squeaker, lawyer and lobbyist Barbara Comstock unseated community [...]

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The Senate Courts of Justice Committee produced legislation, Senate Bill 5003, this afternoon that its members hope will provide at least an interim response to Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled, 5-4, in Melendez that prosecutors generally must present the analyst who prepared a report unless the defendant gets notice of the prosecution’s [...]

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Radford University religion professor Carter Turner today announced his bid to unseat House majority leader Morgan Griffith, R-Salem. Turner replaces Ginny Weisz as the Democrat on the ballot. Weisz withdrew from the race last week. The Roanoke Times notes Turner’s announcement here, but, for the real scoop, we went to RateMyProfessors.com. According to students’ ratings, [...]

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The criminal law subcommittee of the House Courts of Justice Committee will meet Aug. 7 to discuss legislation that will be considered at the Aug. 19 special session of the General Assembly to address Melendez-Diaz v. Massachuetts. That case, decided last month, holds that laboratory analysts generally must appear in court rather than submit their findings [...]

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Sen. Ken Stolle hopes the General Assembly next month will consider approving restitution for a man wrongly imprisoned for 22 years. Arthur Whitfield, released from prison almost five years ago, has since struggled with health issues, employment and finances. According to The Virginian-Pilot, Stolle drafted a bill that he hopes will go before the Assembly [...]

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Gov. Timothy M. Kaine this morning called a special session of the legislature for Aug. 19 to address the problems created by Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts. Mark Rubin, counsel to the governor, said, “A legislative fix doesn’t cure the problem, but it will help us manage the problem.” The problem is that the 5-4 decision by [...]

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