New Virginia Law to Keep Youth Out of Adult Jail

 

On April 13^th, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell signed into law a new measure that will help keep youth in Virginia out of adult jails.  SB 259, which passed unanimously out of both the Virginia House of Delegates and the Virginia Senate, creates a presumption that transferred or certified youth, if confined pre-trial, stay in juvenile detention rather than adult jails unless a judge finds them to be a safety or security risk. This is a significant change to current law which provides no standards or presumptions for such youth and has resulted in youth as young as 14 years old spending extensive time in the general population of adult jails where they lack access to treatment and education services and are exposed to potential harm and victimization.  The new law, which will go into effect on July 1, 2010, provides clear and more effective standards for judges when they make the decision about where to hold youth pending trial.

 

SB 259 received favorable editorial coverage in both the Washington Post and the Virginia Pilot during the General Assembly session.

 

Meanwhile, the Virginia State Crime Commission is continuing its study of Virginia’s juvenile transfer system with potential legislative recommendations for reform to come at the end of this calendar year.

 

The effort to pass SB 259 was supported by numerous family members and youth and a wide range of organizations, and is a key component of the Don’t Throw Away the Key Campaign (dontthrowawaythekey.org) which aims to secure the policy changes necessary to make Virginia’s transfer system fairer, safer, and more effective.