Law

NPR recently reported on alleged ethics violations at Virginia’s largest law firm, McGuireWoods. The firm is accused of representing adversary clients: one a federal agency, the other a non-profit that the CEO of that federal agency was trying to defund.

A federal appeals court will reconsider Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax’s libel lawsuit against CBS on Thursday. Fairfax accuses the television network of airing sexual assault allegations that were levied against him in 2019. The network broadcast exclusive interviews with the accusers, Meredith Watson and Vanessa Tyson, to a national audience. Both accuse Fairfax of assaulting them separately more than 15 years ago.

An extended version of the Inspector General’s report on the Virginia parole board’s handling of the release of Vincent Martin was released to news outlets and some lawmakers. The release has led to renewed calls from Republican lawmakers for investigation and firings of board members and state leadership.

The General Assembly has approved landmark legislation to abolish the death penalty in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Gov. Ralph Northam may sign the bill within a week.

When Virginia Democrats moved to decriminalize marijuana last year, lawmakers pitched the move as a first step at addressing long-standing racial disparities in drug arrests.

Richmond’s top prosecutor is facing a challenge from within her party. Commonwealth’s Attorney Colette McEachin, a Democrat, announced last month that she would seek re-election. Now Tom Barbour, a criminal defense attorney who calls himself a progressive reformer and innovator, is moving to unseat her in a June primary.

Virginia is on track to remove a section of its constitution that defines marriage as solely between one man and one woman. The now-defunct provision enshrined the state’s ban on same-sex marriage when it was ratified in 2006.

Virginia legislators are weighing how long law enforcement should be able to hold onto license plate data they collect using automatic license plate readers. Members of a House Public Safety Committee considered a bill Friday that would ban agencies from storing the information for more than 30 days, unless it’s being used to investigate a crime or violation.

Virginia Democrats continued to push for legislation this session to hold law enforcement accountable for misconduct. But most of those efforts to “police the police” were cut short.

Democrats in the General Assembly are on the way to removing mandatory minimum sentences from Virginia’s law books. It’s part of a handful of progressive criminal justice reforms they set out to tackle this session. Advocates say mandatory minimum sentences do not deter crime, as they are purported to do, and they tie the hands of judges and juries, who are expected to use discretion in sentencing.