Virginia - the Progressive State?

Virginia likes to view itself as “progressive”. Sure, I can see that. Legislators are “progressively” increasing penalties for everything in the free (or incarcerated) world while systematically dismantling the U.S. and Virginia Constitutions. In the Senate during the 2008 session, there were jokes regarding a bill related to Class 1 and 2 Misdemeanors. Senators were laughing as they asked if we still had misdemeanors in Virginia. I, for one, don’t think that is a joke.

I am also not amused by ongoing efforts in Virginia to “get tough” on sex offenders without any inclination to “get smart”. There is extensive research available that would allow the legislature to craft quality legislation – laws that consider the fact that sex offenders are not a homogeneous group. Instead, they have jumped on the Attorney General’s bandwagon with an omnibus bill in 2006 followed by approximately 40 new bills in 2007 and again in 2008. These laws all place additional restrictions on offenders regardless of their offense. Prior to the recent session, they had retroactively reclassified almost all sex offenses to put 83% of Virginia offenders in the “violent sex offender” category with lifetime registration. During that session they added another 2,000 offenders, putting the percentage of so-called “violent” offenders closer to 90%. At no point have they considered government and academic studies and reports. At no point have they consulted with experts in the field. At no point has there been any attempt to determine whether or not these offenders actually ARE dangerous or violent.

Now, if ignoring all the evidence and operating on myths and misinformation is “progressive”, then our legislature is doing a bang-up job.

I have spoken with numerous representatives who agree that we have “gone too far” with these laws. They admit that the laws contradict our best research and the opinions of both sex offender treatment experts and numerous victim advocacy professionals. They nod when testimony is presented in opposition to ridiculous bills. Then they vote for them.

Now that’s progressive!

We all want to protect children from sexual abuse and assault. However, creating laws that most experts say are actually detrimental to public safety (while being incredibly costly) is not the way to go.