State of Virginia Archives: on Crime

Terry McAuliffe: Second chance for youthful offenders

A guiding principle that has served this administration well is the incredible importance of second chances. I believe that should apply to everyone, even men and women who commit a crime. That approach guided the transformation of our Commonwealth's juvenile justice system as we reduced the population by nearly 2/3 and began to close our two huge adult-style youth prisons. [Let's] advance the reforms that will prepare these young people to lead more productive lives, while saving taxpayers millions. Source: 2018 Virginia State of the State address Jan 10, 2018

Tom Perriello: Replace school-to-prison pipeline with school-to-workforce

Democratic Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam became the first gubernatorial candidate to publicly announce his support for decriminalizing marijuana. While Northam was the first candidate to support decriminalization, he's not the only one who wants to open up the state's marijuana laws. Tom Perriello's spokesman said that Perriello also would support decriminalizing marijuana. "Yes, of course. And as he has said consistently during his campaign, we have to fix our broken criminal justice system and re-engineer the school to prison pipeline into a school to workforce pipeline. This includes reforming our outdated and often racially biased drug laws," the spokesman said.

Former Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie's campaign said in a statement that while Gillespie opposes marijuana legalization or decriminalization, "he does support exploring reforms to make sure that penalties align appropriately to the offense committed."

Source: Virginian-Pilot on 2017 Virginia gubernatorial race Feb 18, 2017

Terry McAuliffe: Restore voting rights to former offenders

Virginians like James Ray, a Vietnam veteran who returned from war a changed man. James made mistakes, but he did his time and he reformed his life. He deserved a second chance to be a productive member of society.

I have made restoration of civil and voting rights of former offenders a central focus of my administration, and I'm proud to say that in just one year, we restored the rights of more than 5,200 former offenders.

Source: State of the State address to 2015 Virginia Legislature Jan 14, 2015

Robert Sarvis: Reverse the militarization of law-enforcement tactics

I am committed to restoring and protecting civil liberties. As Governor, I will:

Protect freedom of religion, speech, press, and assembly.
Reverse the militarization of law-enforcement tactics.
Reform asset-forfeiture laws.
Restore Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable searches and seizures.
Restore voting and gun rights for those convicted of non-violent drug offenses.
Fight against federal overreach and government spying programs.
Restrict law-enforcement use of general surveillance technologies.
Protect internet freedom.
I believe an important part of restoring civil liberties is ending the drug war.

Source: Virginia Governor 2013 campaign website, robertsarvis.com Sep 21, 2013

Bob McDonnell: Tough punishment and no parole works

Tough punishment and no parole works Our communities continue to get safer. Our violent crime rate is now lower than any time since the early 1960's, the lowest in the South and the 5th lowest in the nation. Our property crime rate is the lowest in the South and the 8th lowest nationally. Tough punishment and no parole works drunk driving and internet crime. Last year we quietly passed the most significant reforms in over a decade to punish repeat drug dealers and child sex offenders.

Second, we've dramatically improved our prisoner re-entry system.

Source: 2013 Virginia State of the State address Jan 9, 2013

Robert Sarvis: Capital punishment should be legal but rare

Q: Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes?

A: Yes; capital punishment should be legal but rare. We should take seriously credible claims of innocence and allow for reasonable requests for potentially exonerating DNA tests, but also work to reduce the misuse of criminal justice resources and streamline the appeals process. I also recommend considering ways to ensure quality representation in death penalty cases and disincentivize requests for the death penalty, e.g., by providing additional funding for the defense (in cases of public-defender or court-appointed defense counsel) when the prosecution seeks the death penalty.

Source: Virginia State Legislative 2011 PVS Political Courage Test Nov 1, 2011

Bob McDonnell: Tough statutes and sentences; but also re-entry programs

Public safety is the silent partner in job creation. Jobs won't be created and businesses won't be started if our citizens don't first feel safe and secure.

I believe in, and we have, tough statutes and sentences for those who break our laws and endanger our citizens and communities. As a result, our crime rates are down. However, our recidivism rate is still too high. Reduction in recidivism means fewer victims, and less prison costs. America is a nation of second chances and those leaving prison should have the opportunity to change.

We are implementing sweeping new prisoner re-entry programs throughout our correctional system through the leadership of our first statewide prisoner re-entry coordinator and our new Director of the Department of Corrections. And I am pleased to say that since taking office we have implemented the fastest and fairest system for the restoration of civil rights in modern Virginia history.

Source: 2011 Virginia State of the State Address Jan 12, 2011

The above quotations are from Commonwealth of Virginia Politicians: Archives. Click here for definitions & background information on Crime. Click here for other issues (main summary page).
*2020 Presidential contenders on Crime:*
	*Democrats running for President:* Sen.Michael Bennet (D-CO) V.P.Joe Biden (D-DE) Mayor Mike Bloomberg (I-NYC) Gov.Steve Bullock (D-MT) Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D-IN) Sen.Cory Booker (D-NJ) Secy.Julian Castro (D-TX) Gov.Lincoln Chafee (L-RI) Rep.John Delaney (D-MD) Rep.Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) Sen.Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) Gov.Deval Patrick (D-MA) Sen.Bernie Sanders (I-VT) CEO Tom Steyer (D-CA) Sen.Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) Marianne Williamson (D-CA) CEO Andrew Yang (D-NY) *2020 Third Party Candidates:* Rep.Justin Amash (L-MI) CEO Don Blankenship (C-WV) Gov.Lincoln Chafee (L-RI) Howie Hawkins (G-NY) ~~Gov.Gary Johnson~~(L-NM) ~~Howard Schultz~~(I-WA) Gov.Jesse Ventura (I-MN)	*Republicans running for President:* ~~Sen.Ted Cruz~~(R-TX) ~~Gov.Larry Hogan~~ (R-MD) ~~Gov.John Kasich~~(R-OH) V.P.Mike Pence(R-IN) ~~Gov.Mark Sanford~~ (R-SC) Pres.Donald Trump(R-NY) Rep.Joe Walsh (R-IL) Gov.Bill Weld(R-MA & L-NY) *2020 Withdrawn Democratic Candidates:* Sen.Stacey Abrams (D-GA) Mayor Bill de Blasio (D-NYC) Sen.Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) Sen.Mike Gravel (D-AK) Sen.Kamala Harris (D-CA) Gov.John Hickenlooper (D-CO) Gov.Jay Inslee (D-WA) Mayor Wayne Messam (D-FL) Rep.Seth Moulton (D-MA) Rep.Beto O`Rourke (D-TX) Rep.Tim Ryan (D-CA) Adm.Joe Sestak (D-PA) Rep.Eric Swalwell (D-CA)
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Page last updated: Oct 14, 2021