Virginia General Assembly Passes Locke/McClellan Bill to Reform Discriminatory HIV Laws bluevirginia.us - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from bluevirginia.us Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Much of the opposition to the bill was due to concerns by lawmakers about restricting the types of defenses that defendants may employ in court, or the belief that Virginia courts would outright reject a “panic” defense, thereby making the bill unnecessary.
Sen. Joseph Morrissey (I-Richmond), an independent who typically caucuses with Democrats, said lawmakers would be going “down a very slippery slope” if they began limiting the types of defenses a defendant could employ, reports NBC affiliate WVIR.
But Sen. Jennifer McClellan (D-Richmond) said that lawmakers have previously repealed defenses that people found abhorrent, and noted instances in which courts in the commonwealth have previously accepted the “panic” defense as legitimate.
âMassive Resistanceâ architectâs statue banished
Photo/Capital News Service
The statue of Harry Flood Byrd Sr. has stood in Virginiaâs Capitol Square since 1976, a decade after this death. That is a great stain on his career and a great embarrassment. But he was a man of a certain time in a certain era. Sen. Jill Vogel (R-27th/Upperville)
By Zachary Klosko
Capital News Service
RICHMOND â The Virginia General Assembly has voted to remove the statue of former U.S. Sen. Harry F. Byrd Sr. from Capitol Square, the area around the Virginia statehouse.
House Bill 2208, introduced by Del. Jay Jones (D-Norfolk), instructs the Department of General Services to place the statue in storage until the General Assembly chooses its final location. The bill passed the House in late January on a 63-34 vote, while the Senate approved the measure Tuesday on a 36-3 vote.
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The statue to former Virginia Governor and staunch segregationist Harry Byrd in Richmond s Capitol Square. (Photo: Craig Carper/VPM News)
A statue of former Virginia Governor Harry F. Byrd is expected to be removed from Richmond’s Capitol Square.
The Senate voted 36-3 to approve the removal Tuesday afternoon, but not before Democrats and Republicans gave dueling accounts of Byrd’s life on the Senate floor. Byrd was a leader in the South’s fight against racial integration in the 1950’s and 60’s, known as the massive resistance movement. He also led the creation of Virginia’s modern highway system and was rumoured to be a top contender for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1932.
Assembly votes to adopt clean vehicle standards
Stock Photo
The General Assembly also will consider legislation to study Virginiaâs electric charging network and to establish incentives for EVs. In 2020, and now 2021, Virginiaâs General Assembly has taken leaps and bounds forward in tackling the climate crisis, first by working to secure our transition away from fossil fuels to power our daily lives and now by moving to reduce harmful tailpipe pollution by putting cleaner cars on the road. We are not across the finish line yet, but weâre close. Michael Town, Virginia League of Conservation Voters executive director