Headlines
April 18, 2014
Governor McAuliffe Announces Significant Reforms to Restoration of Rights Policy
Richmond, VA -- Today, Governor McAuliffe announced two important reforms to the restoration of civil rights process. First, all drug offenses will be considered non-violent instead of violent offenses, and processed under the less onerous criteria for restoration of rights. Second, the mandatory five year waiting period for individuals convicted of violent felonies has been reduced to three years. read more »
April 11, 2014
ACLU of Virginia to Governor: Capitol Square Demonstration Regulation is Unconstitutional
Richmond, VA -- The regulation governing demonstrations on Capitol Square is "riddled with constitutional problems," the ACLU of Virginia wrote today in a letter to Governor Terry McAuliffe. The letter called upon the Governor to take swift action to revise the regulation. read more »
April 04, 2014
ACLU of Virginia Applauds Governor McAuliffe’s Veto of Senate Bill 236
Richmond, VA -- Today, Governor McAuliffe vetoed Senate Bill 236, a bill that would have allowed unconstitutional religious speech at or imposed an unworkable burden on Virginia's public schools. By requiring that schools create a so-called "limited public forum" at every school event, the bill would have compelled schools to sponsor student prayer at official school events where students (and other members of the school community) are a captive audience, such as graduations, assemblies, and sporting events read more »
April 03, 2014
ACLU of Virginia Applauds Governor McAuliffe for Signing Cell Phone Tracking Bill
Richmond, VA -- The ACLU of Virginia applauds Governor Terry McAuliffe for signing House Bill 17- a bipartisan bill whose chief co-patrons were Delegates Bob Marshall (R - Manassas) and Betsy Carr (D - Richmond). The new law will create a warrant requirement for law enforcement seeking to access the real time data on the location of an individual's cell phone. read more »
March 28, 2014
ACLU of Virginia Applauds Governor McAuliffe’s Veto of Senate Bill 555
Richmond, VA -- The ACLU of Virginia applauds Governor Terry McAuliffe’s veto of Senate Bill 555, which would have allowed National Guard chaplains to proselytize to unwilling service members. read more »
March 24, 2014
ACLU tells Virginia Community College System That Campus Demonstration Policies are Unconstitutional
Richmond, VA -- On Friday, the ACLU of Virginia sent a letter to the Chancellor and Board of the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) informing them that VCCS's policies limiting the right to protest on Virginia's community college campuses violate the First Amendment. The letter called upon the VCCS to take swift action to revise the policies. read more »
Blog
Highlights from Billion Dollar Divide: Virginia’s Sentencing, Corrections and Criminal Justice Challenge
(04/15/2014) The Justice Policy Institute (JPI) is out with a great new report, and its findings should serve as a wake up call to Virginia’s lawmakers: read more »
Equal Pay Day is a Call to Action! Let’s Continue Working to Achieve Equal Pay for Women
(04/08/2014) April 8 is Equal Pay Day, the symbolic day into 2014 a woman must work to earn as much as a man did in 2013 alone. On average women in the United States today still earn just 77 cents for every dollar that men earn and that is cause for concern. The wage gap needs to decrease and we are working hard to ensure that it will soon decrease for Virginia’s women. read more »
Will Manassas use its Zoning Law Update to Undermine Reproductive Freedom?
(04/02/2014) The Manassas City Council recently debated whether to update its decades-old zoning laws, including those that apply to medical facilities. read more »
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