Parole statutes; application for juveniles and persons committed upon certain felony offenses. (SB112)
Introduced By
Sen. Joe Morrissey (D-Richmond) with support from co-patron Sen. Jennifer Boysko (D-Herndon)
Progress
✓ |
Introduced |
☐ |
Passed Committee |
☐ |
Passed House |
☐ |
Passed Senate |
☐ |
Signed by Governor |
☐ |
Became Law |
Description
Application of parole statutes for juveniles and persons committed upon felony offenses committed on or after January 1, 1995. Repeals the abolition of parole. The bill requires the Virginia Parole Board to establish procedures for consideration of parole for persons who were previously ineligible for parole because parole was abolished and to allow for an extension of time for the scheduling of a parole interview for reasonable cause. Read the Bill »
Status
01/06/2022: Awaiting a Vote in the Judiciary Committee
History
| Date | Action |
|---|---|
| 01/06/2022 | Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/12/22 22103312D |
| 01/06/2022 | Referred to Committee on the Judiciary |
| 01/31/2022 | Continued to 2023 in Judiciary (15-Y 0-N) (see vote tally) |
Comments
I fully support this bill!
It's a bad idea to let violent criminals out of prison when they've served as little as one-fourth of their sentence. Yet that is what this bill would do. See "Morrissey Proposes Extending Parole to Most Violent Offenders," Bacon's Rebellion, Jan. 10, 2020, linking to Va. Code 53.1-151(A)(1).
That would increase the crime rate a lot, and basically wipe out the deterrent effect of criminal sentences. That would mean a lot more murders, rapes, and robberies.
As Bacon's Rebellion notes,
"Restoring parole could result in Virginia having a high crime rate like neighboring Maryland, which has parole. Maryland has a violent crime rate more than double Virginia’s. In 2018, Maryland had a violent crime rate of 468.7 per 100,000 people, according to USA Today, compared to a violent crime rate of only 200 per 100,000 in Virginia. Forty years ago, Virginia’s Fairfax County had a similar crime rate to Montgomery County, Md., which is demographically and economically similar. But that changed after prison sentences became longer in Virginia, and Virginia eliminated parole. Fairfax County ended up with a much lower crime rate than Montgomery County."
The Bacon's Rebellion article can be found at this link:
https://www.baconsrebellion.com/wp/morrissey-proposes-extending-parole-to-most-violent-offenders/