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Today, House Democrats announced their support for legislation to set up a health insurance marketplace in Virginia. Delegates Patrick Hope (D-Arlington) and Jennifer McClellan (D-Richmond) are introducing legislation modeled after the recommendations of Governor Bob McDonnell’s Virginia Health Reform Initiative (VHRI). The VHRI was formed to implement the federal health care reform law in Virginia….
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America is at a crossroads. Shall we be governed by people or by corporations? If you thought we had already answered that question more than two centuries ago, you’re right. The framers of our Constitution were clear that we were to be a government of, for and by the people. They recognized that corporations were…
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In a massive coordinated information-seeking campaign, the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia and 33 other affiliates across the nation today are sending requests to more than 375 local law enforcement agencies large and small demanding to know when, why and how they are using cell phone location data to track Americans. The Virginia affiliate…
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If there was any doubt about the broken state of our prison system, the news this week should put it to rest. The Global Commission on Drug Policy, made up of former presidents and other luminaries from the United States and abroad, concludes that the Drug War is an expensive failure. The California prison system—which…
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President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Obamacare, into law on March 23, 2010. On the same day Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli filed the first lawsuit in the nation to challenge the provision in ACA that most individuals be mandated to have health insurance. Eastern District Federal Judge Henry Hudson ruled in…
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Legislative maneuverings are nothing new, but the Virginia General Assembly, with some last-minute shenanigans, may have just maneuvered itself into reproductive rights morass with very real legal implications. Last week, the House of Delegates passed SB 924, a bill that requires the Board of Health to issue regulations related to infection prevention and disaster preparedness…
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A subcommittee of the Senate Privileges and Elections Committee voted today against approval of a resolution to amend the Virginia Constitution in a manner that could encourage unconstitutional prayers in public schools. The vote was 4-3. The bill, HJ 593, had previously passed the House by a vote of 66-33-1. “We are pleased that the…
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The House of Delegates on Tuesday passed a resolution to amend the Virginia Constitution in a manner that could encourage unconstitutional prayers in public schools. The vote was 66-33 to send HJ 593 to the Senate. Although the resolution does not contain plainly unconstitutional language, patron Del. Charles W. Carrico has made it clear he…
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The ACLU of Virginia on Friday objected to a decision by the Giles County School Board to re-post the Ten Commandments in public schools, and says it will consider legal action. “This action flies in the face of both strong legal precedents and our fundamental notions of what religious equality means in the United States,”…
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The ACLU of Virginia has agreed to represent Mo Karn, a member of a local anarchist group, who received notice earlier this week that Richmond City Police Chief Bryan T. Norwood is seeking a court order to compel the return of documents she obtained through the Virginia Freedom of Information Act and to prohibit her…
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