When Virginia politicians abolished the state’s death penalty three years ago, they promised that the murderers sentenced to death would serve life in prison without the possibility of parole (LWOP). An article in Liberty Unyielding reports that the very next year those same politicians introduced a bill called “second look” to give murderers sentenced to LWOP the opportunity for parole after serving 25 years. That bill failed to pass on a straight party line vote. It was reintroduced again last year and died in the Republican controlled house. This year both houses of the Virginia Legislature have democrat majorities and two “second look” bills have been introduced again, with even more benefits for murderers.
As the article notes;
But for serial killers and other aggravated murderers who are serving a sentence of life without parole, the passage of this “second look” legislation would be a big change. It could give them even more than parole. Inmates released on parole are subject to the supervision of a parole officer, and if they misbehave or evade oversight, they can be sent back to prison for a long time. By contrast, an inmate who has been released under the “second look” legislation lacks these guardrails, and is not accountable to a parole officer, because his release marks the end of his sentence.
This is worrisome, because the inmates who can be released under the legislation include those who have “any conviction” or “a combination of any convictions of (i) a Class 1 felony; (ii) aggravated murder in violation of § 18.2-31 or first degree murder or a second or subsequent conviction of second degree murder.” Those murderers are the inmates who would have to wait longest to get out—25 years—but they would still be eligible to seek release, even if they tortured to death multiple victims—which would constitute a Class 1 felony—or otherwise killed large numbers of people.
Different this year is who is lobbing for passage of these bills. Domestic violence advocacy groups funded by the state and a pro-criminal group Nolef Turns financed by the Soros-backed Proteus Fund are claiming to represent crime victims supporting “second look.”
One of the criminals who would benefit is quadruple-murderer Anthony Juniper. In 2004 he shot a two-year-old girl four times along with her mother, who was holding her, her four-year-old sister and her uncle. He was sentenced to death but this became LWOP after the death penalty was abolished. If the “second look” bills become law, he will be eligible for parole in five years.
The article provides data indicating that most inmates released from prison commit additional crimes, including violent crimes. This is guaranteed to happen and the only question is how many new victims will there be.
The democrats in the Virginia Legislature clearly don’t care about the truth, justice or the safety of their law-abiding constituents.
