POLICY BRIEF: Virginia Criminal Justice Reform
“There are not enough jails…not enough police…not enough courts…to enforce a law not supported by the people.”
The Virginia General Assembly directed its State Crime Commission (SCC) to undertake an emergency review of its criminal justice policies and identify opportunities for reform. Most legislative activity will center around policies supported by the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus, mainstream Democratic activists, and the Black Lives Matter protestors. This augments those discussions.
BIG IDEA: CAHOOTS
Eugene, Oregon created a pilot program in 1989 that trail-blazed a non-profit sector alternate to policing.
Crisis Assistants Helping Out On The Streets (CAHOOTS) is managed by a community non-profit that sends teams of behavioral health therapists and social workers when people in mental distress call 911. The program cut police brutality and saved money…A LOT of money.
Before implementing the program, the locality spent $90M for its police force to dispatch to behavioral health crises. Once implemented, CAHOOTS reduced spending to $2.1M, or .08¢/annually per resident.
Last year, out of a total of roughly 24,000 CAHOOTS calls, police backup was requested only 150 times.
HOW IT WORKS: Reallocate police appropriations to community nonprofits that bid to run a network of mobile de-escalation programs.
ABOLISH CAPITOL PUNISHMENT
Virginia has historically embraced the death penalty, which it uses to commit state-sanctioned murder against mostly-black prisoners.
DNA evidence exonerates many people on death row. Since 1973, more than 160 prisoners sent to death row in the USA have later been exonerated or released as innocent. Others have been executed despite serious doubts about their guilt.
According to Amnesty International, a death penalty does not deter crime. It is a discriminatory political tool associated with unfair justice systems.
HOW IT WORKS: Repeal the death penalty in the Code of Virginia.
END PRETRIAL DETENTION
Despite intentions to ensure people charged with crimes appear for court hearings, studies show “Pretrial Detention” has no measurable impact on truancy in court hearings. VOX says this practice causes serious harm to hundreds of thousands of unconvicted people pushed into jails because they can’t afford the bail set to secure their release.
The median bail amount is $10,000—or eight months of income for someone detained because they cannot pay bail.
Pretrial detention is an end-around the legal concept of assuming innocence before being proven guilty. While there is a political argument to be made for distinguishing between non-violent and violent criminals receiving pretrial detention, the data show eliminating it altogether is the smartest policy.
Pretrial detention has no basis in science, conviction data show people detained for longer periods are more likely to be convicted and receive harsher sentences than people who pay the required bail fees and are released or are never required to pay bail in the first place.
HOW IT WORKS: Pass state legislation prohibiting the practice in all jurisdictions of the Commonwealth.
ENACT THE ‘8 [THAT] CAN’T WAIT’
Research shows more restrictive use-of-force policies can reduce killings by police and save lives. The “8 Can’t Wait” organization is calling for common-sense reforms around such policies:
Ban Choke-holds and Strangleholds
Require De-escalation
Warn before shooting
Require exhausting every alternative before shooting
Duty to Intervene
Ban shooting at moving vehicles
Require Use-of-Force continuum
Require comprehensive reporting
HOW IT WORKS: Pass policies as legislation or new bureaucratic policies to make a positive impact at a state or local level.
BAN NON-LETHAL WEAPONS
A war crime according to the Geneva Convention, using chemical weapons like tear gas causes lasting lung damage and cancer. It’s also usually unnecessary.
Eliminating police access to chemical weapons is a key part of demilitarizing local police forces and will free up resources better used elsewhere. Prohibiting other non-lethal weapons like rubber bullets and tasers will reduce instances of police brutality.
For example, rubber bullets are intended to be fired into the ground before first bouncing up to hit their target. Instead, poorly-trained and ill-motivated local police forces are firing directly into the crowd. Research also shows that police are more likely to use non-lethal weapons as a first resort rather than as a last resort to avoid using their firearm. The data is clear that reducing the prevalence of non-lethal weapons for police will save lives
Using chemical weapons in the middle of a pandemic is especially dangerous because it causes coughing, which suspends the coronavirus in air droplets, the primary transmission route for infections.
HOW IT WORKS: Prohibit state and local law enforcement agencies from acquiring and using dangerous non-lethal weapons like tear gas and rubber bullets.
