RICHMOND, Va. -- A group of supporters and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle rallied in Richmond Tuesday, urging lawmakers to pass legislation that would give people in prison serving longer sentences a second chance by giving their sentences as second look.
Among those who stood shoulder-to-shoulder on the issue were Shawn Barksdale and Jerry Butler, approaching it from different perspectives. Barksdale previously served time for armed robbery, while Butler was an armed robbery victim. Both men support the proposed the "Second Look" legislation going before lawmakers.
"There's no question in my mind that the 'Second Look' can make a difference in people's lives," Butler said.
State Senator Chap Petersen (D - Fairfax) introduced the bill that would allow people serving long sentences to have that sentence re-evaluated by a Circuit Court Judge after a period of 15 years behind bars.
"You come back to that sentencing judge and they look at the criteria, but rather than looking at all the criteria that happened up until the time of the offense, they're now taking into account — how have you behaved, what has your conduct been while you've been an inmate, what were the circumstances of the crime? Was the punishment, frankly, over criminalized at the time?" Petersen said. "It just gives a chance to kind of come back for people that have been in long term and served the bulk of their sentence to have that reviewed and to take into account the factors since they've been sentenced."
Supporters of the bill said more than 2,500 people incarcerated in Virginia would be eligible just this year if lawmakers approved the bill. They added people could only apply for a second look twice during their sentence (with at least a three year gap between the two petitions). The process would include input from the victims and prosecutors.
"What this does is this really brings it into the light," Shawn Weneta, a policy strategist with the ACLU of Virginia, said. "It's a more merit-based program. It's not a decision made by a politician, or by somebody that is appointed by a partisan actor. Because when you do that you have partisan outcomes."
While some Republican lawmakers support the bill, it was killed in a House committee under their control last year.
State Del. Rob Bell, who chairs the Courts of Justice committee, has some concerns about the bill.
He said the new law would remove truth in sentencing.
"We think it's very important that there be a finality to the final judgment," Del. Bell (R - Albemarle) said. "To go retroactively back and tell the crime victim, 'Hey, yeah, we said 15. But now it might be 10. We said 20 might now be 15.' We think is the wrong approach."
Bell called truth in sentencing an important ingredient in Virginia having among the lowest recidivism rates in the country.
"Fewer people were being victimized by these crimes," Bell said. "Our goal is to have public safety. Our goal is to make sure that these crimes are not being recommitted."
Butler and Barksdale see the proposed law as a chance for forgiveness and to incentivize those serving time behind bars.
"It gives a deeper incentive to not only yourself, but your comrade. You got to say, 'Man, you got 30 years and in 15 years you can do x, y, z.' So, we're going to be letting young men know that coming through the door," Barksdale said.
Del. Petersen said Governor Glenn Youngkin (R - Virginia) was non-committal about his support for the bill.
A spokesperson for the Governor said Youngkin would review the bill if it made it to his desk.
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