CRIMINAL JUSTICE + POLICING
VCU professor develops THC breathalyzer to help detect driver impairment
By Sahara Sriraman / Capital News Service A Virginia Commonwealth University professor and a partner are developing a new THC breathalyzer that could be used to quickly detect if someone is driving under the influence of cannabis. VCU professor Emanuele Alves, who has a doctorate in forensic science, partnered with Wagner Pacheco, who has a […]
Sexual assault survivors can now track their rape kits in most states
It can take hours for a sexual assault victim to undergo the multiple swabs, hair samples, blood and urine collections, and other invasive procedures of a sexual assault examination. And then it can take months, sometimes years, for investigators to process that evidence kit. But now, responding to demands from survivors and their advocates, more […]
Why did Kiki Webb have to die?
By Dale M. Brumfield Around 8:00 a.m. on March 7, 2023, Anitrel “Kiki” Webb, a 45-year-old inmate at the all-female Fluvanna Correctional Facility in Troy, Virginia, went to take a shower. Officers found her almost four hours later, hanging from the rod, dead. Webb had been sentenced in Roanoke the previous April to 15 years […]
Maryland man admits sending threats to Virginia, Md. lawmakers
A Maryland man admitted to sending threatening messages to Maryland and Virginia lawmakers and faces five years in prison after pleading guilty in federal court to threatening a group that advocates for LGBTQI+ people. Adam Michael Nettina, 34, of West Friendship, entered the plea in U.S. District Court in Baltimore on Wednesday. According to the […]
Va. attorney general says transgender student policies comply with anti-discrimination laws
In response to a request by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Attorney General Jason Miyares released an official advisory opinion today concluding the state’s model policies concerning the treatment of transgender students comply with federal and state anti-discrimination laws and reiterating the administration’s stance that school boards must adopt policies in line with them. “It is my […]
Federal judge considers stay in abortion case affecting Montana, Kansas and Virginia
A federal judge in Virginia will likely stay – or pause – a case regarding medical providers and mifepristone, a drug commonly used as part of chemical abortions, because of similar challenges in Texas and Washington. Groups from Virginia, Montana and Kansas had filed the suit in the Charlottesville division of the U.S. District Court […]
Abortion pill to stay on the market until U.S. Supreme Court ruling after appeals court order
WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday the abortion pill can stay on the market, but it agreed with a lower court that ultimately use should revert to prescribing and dosage instructions that were in place before 2016. That appeals court ruling will immediately be put on hold until the U.S. Supreme Court decides […]
Va. appeals court says wine shippers need license for every shipping location
The Virginia Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that wine shippers who buy wine from different wineries that then box and ship orders on to Virginia customers must get a state license for every location involved in the chain. The decision overturns an earlier ruling by Richmond Circuit Court that found California-based company VinoShipper only needed […]
Stifling prison heat used to be just a Southern problem. Not anymore.
While sweltering heat in prisons without air conditioning has long been an issue in the South, extreme heat waves worsened by climate change are expanding the problem into Northern states. In recent years, Michigan, Minnesota, South Dakota, Washington and Wisconsin have seen extreme heat in prisons. Many of these states lack the necessary infrastructure for […]
4th Circuit dismisses remaining two Mountain Valley Pipeline cases
The U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed two long-standing legal challenges against the Mountain Valley Pipeline Friday, citing its lack of authority to hear the cases following the passage of the Fiscal Responsibility Act earlier this year. The dismissals mean the project, which was temporarily halted by the latest legal challenges, can continue. “Here, […]
After George Floyd’s murder, more states require release of police disciplinary records
Faced with growing calls for the public release of police disciplinary records, lawmakers in almost every state have grappled with how to balance revealing law enforcement misdeeds and protecting officers’ privacy and safety. Fueled by public outrage over the 2020 murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer and other high-profile incidents of police […]
Judge dismisses federal lawsuit over firing of former Nottoway election official
A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit over the contentious firing of former Nottoway County Registrar Angela Stewart and another election official who worked with her, ruling that city and county electoral boards function more as state bodies rather than local ones. Stewart, who had served as Nottoway’s registrar for 28 years before being removed from […]