Bill: Prisoners would get ‘second look’ at redemption, revised sentence

HAMPTON ROADS, Va. (WAVY) — The “Second Look” bill seeks to allow people to petition a court if they have a long prison sentence, giving them the possibility of a revised sentence.

“Redemption can be real,” said State Sen. Creigh Deeds (D-Charlottesville), “and we have to acknowledge that people sometimes make mistakes and they can be rehabilitated.”

Depending on the initial charges, if passed, the bill would allow someone to get a look at a revised sentence as early as 15 years.

“It’s really an opportunity for people that have served a long-term prison sentence to go back in front of their sentencing courts and have them review the sentence and look at the person not for who they are, you know, not for who they were when they committed the offense, but really who they have become today,” said Shawn Weneta, a policy strategist for ACLU of Virginia.

For Tammy Duffy, the bill opens up deep wounds about her daughter’s death.

“It’s retraumatizing us over and over and over again. Every single time the bill is moved through the House and the Senate,” she said.

Duffy’s daughter, Kaitlyn, was killed in 2017 by an intoxicated driver.

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Jerode Johnson admitted to driving drunk. He received a 47-year prison sentence. Duffy has actively fought against the bill since 2021.

“You know this bill, if it becomes law, would greatly impact us, but also, for every other victim that’s out there, this bill, why we’re advocating against it, would release violent criminals back out into society,” she said. “If this bill became law, he would absolutely have a second look and potentially get out in 15 years instead of the 47…To think that he could possibly get out in 15 years, and the last time that we saw anything about him, … he showed no remorse. So the recidivism for him potentially going back out and doing the same thing and injuring or killing another human being, they need to really think long and hard about what they’re doing.”

Attorney General Jason Miyares calls this bill “backdoor parole.”

“We’re allowing people that have a perhaps if you’re in prison for more than 15 years, there’s a chance that not only have you committed a violent act, but you also have a record and a track record of multiple criminal acts on your rap sheet,” he said. “So not only just to ignore the victims, we’re also talking about the fact that these individuals can get back in society. I mean, we are now talking about some of the most notorious criminals in the in the system. These are not people with minor charges.”

Weneta disagrees with the attorney general. He spent time in prison himself and now advocates for criminal legal reform. Weneta said petitioners have to prove they’ve changed. He feels some people deserve a second chance.

“The people that we want to be to get the courts consideration for this bill are people that have proven themselves, that have earned it the threshold to get this consideration and the threshold to actually get the consideration of the court in this is very high,” he said. “As far as, you know, releasing, quote-unquote, dangerous people into society, we trust the court to impose a sentence. We can also trust the court to review the sentence and determine if it’s still appropriate.”

Both Duffy and Miyares point out that the bill re-victimizes victims.

“I don’t support it,” Miyares said. “I think it is in many ways a slap of the face and these victims that have been traumatized and asking them to relive the worst moments of their life on a witness stand.”

Deeds believes the legislation structure gives victims a voice.

“If the judge thinks it’s a possibility, the judge can give notice to the Commonwealth’s Attorney,” Deeds said. “The Commonwealth’s Attorney can say no; that is the end of the process. The Commonwealth Attorney thinks it’s worth having the hearing. The Commonwealth’s attorney notifies the victim. The victim can say no or by not responding. … the process ends. It’s up to the judge and the prosecutor and the victim in terms of whether or not it goes forward.”

Deeds said even if everyone signs off there would still be a hearing.

“They have a hearing and the person who is rehabilitated has to prove that he or she has followed the rules and has done everything they can to keep their nose clean and to be rehabilitated during their time in incarceration,” he said.

Duffy said that she is dealing with a life sentence because of what Johnson did.

She doesn’t believe the bill should go forward.

“Anybody who has lost somebody to impaired driving, drunk driving, or drugged driving, and they have to bury a child or a family member for that matter,” Duffy said, “but for us, it was a child. I would urge them into them and implore them that it is just it’s a life sentence that we as victims have to deal with.”

The Virginia Senate recently passed the bill, and it advanced to the Virginia House of Delegates.

If it is passed there, Gov. Glenn Youngkin would decide whether to sign it or not.

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