Both the House and Senate unan­imously passed identical legislation this month to remove the risk of sur­prise hospital bills for some Virginians. Surprise bills, or “balance billing,” of­ten occur when patients seek emergen­cy care at an out-of-network hospital, or receive ...

Tagged with: Balance Billing General Assembly

Twenty-five years after Virginia abolished parole, hundreds of inmates will be eligible for release under a bill recently signed by the governor. Sponsored by Del. Joseph Lindsey, D-Norfolk, House Bill 35 would grant parole eligibility for individuals sentenced to prison ...

Tagged with: Criminal General Assembly Sentencing

Despite some wins by advocates for criminal justice change in Virginia, the 2020 General Assembly session failed to deliver on a number of key projects for reformers. Proposals to revamp sentencing and to greatly expand judges’ authority to defer and ...

Tagged with: criminal justice reform General Assembly

Lawmakers are proposing to eliminate the requirement that school leaders report certain criminal offenses to law enforcement, legislation that some Republicans say could make schools “significantly less safe.” Supporters include a number of education advocacy groups and teachers’ associations; they ...

Tagged with: General Assembly

Two Virginia commonwealth’s attorneys seeking to become judges may have been torpedoed by the influence of a former governor. Both Fredericksburg Commonwealth’s Attorney LaBravia Jenkins and Wise County Commonwealth’s Attorney Chuck Slemp interviewed with legislators for general district court vacancies ...

Tagged with: General Assembly Judicial Elections

New Virginia criminal discovery rules are set to go into effect this summer, but if they don’t, the General As­sembly has a back-up plan. A measure now mak­ing its way through the state Senate would put criminal discovery procedures in ...

Tagged with: Criminal Discovery General Assembly

Virginia lawmakers have moved one step closer to completely banning driv­ers from using mobile devices. On Feb. 5, the House passed House Bill 874, which would prohibit motorists from using cellphones and other hand­held devices while driving and would penalize ...

Tagged with: Cell Phone Ban General Assembly Hands Free

By Maura Mazurowski and Peter Vieth Of the 29 judicial candi­dates interviewed at the General Assembly Feb. 21, one in four was a prosecutor. Five were elected commonwealth’s attorneys. During interviews held by the combined House Courts and Senate Judiciary ...

Tagged with: General Assembly Judicial Interviews

Police departments may be required to es­tablish a written poli­cy for the use of body-worn cameras in Virginia, under a bill now awaiting the gov­ernor’s signature. “The whole purpose of body cameras is to engender trust between the police and ...

Tagged with: General Assembly Police Body Cameras

The 6th Amendment gives criminal defendants the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury. Lawyers say their clients often fear exercising this right. “There’s a chilling effect on people exercising their 6th Amendment rights, because in ...

Tagged with: Constitutional General Assembly