By: Abbey Lahnston In the summer of 2021, Virginia moved from its well-established institution of jury sentencing to judge sentencing.[1] Joe Morrisey, a Virginia State Senator claimed, “Jurors have no idea what a normal sentence is. That’s why it is important to have a judge sentencing who has the guidelines and can put it into context.”[2] But Joe Morrisey, and the Virginia Legislation in general, … Continue reading

By: Amanuel Mekonnen DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, is under attack again. On June 16, 2021, Judge Andrew S. Hanen of the United States District Court in Houston ordered the immediate vacatur of the memorandum that created the DACA program and remanded the program back to the Department for Homeland Security (DHS), subject to a temporary stay. [1] In a 77-page memorandum, … Continue reading

By: Jessica King In the United States, approximately 24,000 juveniles are held in detention on a given night. Three hundred thousand young offenders are admitted to detention centers every year.[1]  The sentencing of an offender is driven by three key considerations: punishment, deterrence, and rehabilitation. Rehabilitation often holds the most weight when discussing the sentencing of youth offenders.[2] Juvenile justice policy has been increasingly focused … Continue reading Recidivism in Young Offenders: The Focus on Rehabilitation

By: Tyler Butt In 2008 the Supreme Court held that the Second Amendment “provides an induvial right to keep a handgun at home for self-defense.”[1] Since that ruling, the Supreme Court has largely refused to rule on additional Second Amendment related challenges. However, this upcoming term, the Supreme Court will hear ““perhaps the single most important unresolved Second Amendment question” since the court found an … Continue reading “Proper Cause” the Supreme Court to decide on most consequential Second Amendment Case in a decade

By: Albert Gutierrez The eviction situation in Virginia is highly unsettling. In 2016, five of the top ten cities with the highest eviction rates were located in Virginia.[1] The list included cities such as, Richmond, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, and Chesapeake.[2] Richmond, in particular, was second in the nation, where roughly 1 in 9 renters faced eviction each year.[3] With eviction numbers skyrocketing throughout Virginia … Continue reading “New Virginia Law Can Have a Positive Effect on Those Facing Eviction”

By: Kaylin Cecchini Evaluating credit history in determining whether a rental applicant will be a “good tenant” is a relic of a racist history in housing accessibility. Credit reports have little to no predictive value for any person but have even larger and compounding complications for people of color.[1] Access to housing is a necessary foundation for achieving other goals related to food security, employment … Continue reading Removing Credit History from the Rental Applicant Screening Process