Looking within
Sen. Creigh Deeds joined the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia in support of Second Look legislation at the Virginia State Capitol on January 16.
The event—held by a coalition of the ACLU, the Humanization Project, Nolef Turns, and Sistas in Prison Reform—featured a number of speakers who support the legislation. In addition to Deeds, several other state lawmakers, people impacted by crime, and formerly incarcerated individuals attended the event.
As outlined by the ACLU of Virginia, Second Look legislation would “allow people who have proven they are not a threat to public safety to petition the court to review and potentially amend their long sentences.” Proposed legislation would require petitioners to have served either 10 or 15 years of their sentence, depending on age at the time of the offense, and have several years of good behavior to qualify for review.
Criminal justice reform has long been a priority for Deeds, who is a criminal defense attorney and previously served as co-chair of the Judiciary Committee in the state Senate.
“Our Department of Corrections is supposed to be exactly that: Correction,” he said to event attendees. “It’s supposed to be about rehabilitation.”
Blast off
City of Promise is working with Charlottesville City Schools on a new program aimed at addressing and closing disparities in attendance and literacy in local elementary schools.
The project, LaunchPad, will start as a pilot program at Venable Elementary, with a goal of expanding to the city’s other elementary schools.
“Minority and under-resourced students are struggling with absenteeism and the obvious downstream effect is a negative impact on their reading proficiency and academic performance,” said City of Promise Executive Director Price Thomas in a January 10 press release. “We know how important a predictor reading is of future success, so it’s something that needs to be addressed immediately, holistically, and with concentrated resources.”
CCS Superintendent Royal Gurley also shared his optimism about the program: “LaunchPad will play a pivotal role in shaping the trajectory of students’ academic journeys.”
According to CCS and City of Promise, the LaunchPad pilot program will initially focus on getting kindergarten and first-grade students up to grade level by the end of their third and fourth grade years, respectively. The program is also supported by the University of Virginia School of Education and Human Development.
At press time, a timeline for the implementation of the Launchpad pilot program had not been announced.
In brief
Legal matter
The Charlottesville Police Department has announced that Chief Michael Kochis and Commonwealth’s Attorney Joe Platania believe Charlottesville City Schools appropriately handled an alleged sexual assault that occurred at a city school last year. The assault was brought to the attention of CPD in November after Courteney Stuart, a C-VILLE contributor and host of WINA’s “Charlottesville Right Now,” interviewed a former CCS staff member on her radio program. In the interview, Stuart’s guest claimed that CCS handled the alleged assault internally without notifying CPD. A January 9 meeting between Kochis, Platania, and CCS Superintendent Royal Gurley and his staff resulted in an announcement that the city schools “handled the alleged incident appropriately within the confines of the law.” Charlottesville police and the commonwealth’s attorney’s office have declined to discuss any details due to the juveniles involved.
Water rescue
As the weather gets wetter and colder, Albemarle County Fire Rescue is reminding drivers to avoid flooded roadways, especially after a couple vehicles recently ran into trouble. On January 9, volunteer and career fire rescue units, along with Albemarle County police officers, rescued two passengers from a vehicle on a flooded roadway. That same evening, a driver escaped from a vehicle trapped on a flooded street.
Book it
Get ready for the 2024 Virginia Festival of the Book—tickets to festival events and the Historical Fiction Breakfast are now available at vabook.org. The program includes talks with state Senator Danica Roem, Roxane Gay, Percival Everett, and Ada Limón. The festival offers both all-day passes and individual tickets to some events.