Established in 2005 as The Richmond Defender, The Virginia Defender is a free community newspaper, published quarterly for the Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality. Print distribution is currently 12,000 and statewide. The online publication launched in Summer 2020.
In the largest event ever held about Shockoe Bottom, and one of the last events in Virginia to mark the 400th anniversary of the arrival of captive Africans, more than 250 people attended an all-day symposium Dec. 7 at the Library of Virginia that examined the history of Black people in the state.
Regular readers of the Defender should be familiar with the case of Jermaine Doss of Norfolk, who was sent to prison in 2000 in connection with the shooting death of Norfolk businessman James Webb.
Riverside Regional Jail was in the news again Feb. 21, when Fred Lavigne, 53, of Chesterfield County, was found unresponsive in his cell. According to jail spokeswoman Charlene R. Jones, suicide is suspected, but the state medical examiner’s office will determine the official cause of death.
In a new Department of Corrections policy, Virginia’s roughly 38,000 state prisoners are now allowed no more than 10 people on their visitors lists.
The 2020 Virginia General Assembly, in which the Democrats hold a majority of seats in both the Senate and House of Delegates, has been promoting a number of bills that may bring a measure of justice to some of the state’s 38,000 prisoners – and will likely disappoint many others.
The 3rd Annual Virginia Prison Justice Rally, sponsored by the Virginia Prison Justice Network, was held Jan. 11, 2020, on the grounds of the Virginia State Capitol. This year’s rally was preceded the day before by a press conference, held in the briefing room of the General Assembly building and covered by TV stations CBS-6, ABC-8 and NBC-12, as well as several newspaper outlets.
Defying the vicious, anti-immigrant offensive of the Trump administration, a total of 182 U.S. cities, counties and states have declared themselves “sanctuary cities,” refusing to cooperate with federal immigration agents. In response, the Department of Homeland Security is now planning to send Border Patrol “SWAT” teams to these jurisdictions.
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