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Tom Perriello on Crime
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Replace school-to-prison pipeline with school-to-workforce
Democratic Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam became the first gubernatorial candidate to publicly announce his support for decriminalizing marijuana. While Northam was the first candidate to support decriminalization, he's not the only one who wants to open up the
state's marijuana laws. Tom Perriello's spokesman said that Perriello also would support decriminalizing marijuana. "Yes, of course. And as he has said consistently during his campaign, we have to fix our broken criminal justice system and re-engineer
the school to prison pipeline into a school to workforce pipeline. This includes reforming our outdated and often racially biased drug laws," the spokesman said.Former Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie's campaign said in
a statement that while Gillespie opposes marijuana legalization or decriminalization, "he does support exploring reforms to make sure that penalties align appropriately to the offense committed."
Source: Virginian-Pilot on 2017 Virginia gubernatorial race
, Feb 18, 2017
Get local police forces the resources they need
We must invest more in local law enforcement agencies. One of the greatest successes of the 1990s was the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Community Policing Services (COPS) program. But funding for this program has declined from
$1 billion a year for most of the late 1990s to just $5 million in fiscal year 2005. In Congress, Tom will make sure local police forces have the resources they need to enforce the law and hold criminals accountable.
Source: 2008 VA House campaign website PerrielloForCongress.com
, Nov 1, 2008
Easier access to rape kits, and more rape kit analysis.
Perriello signed easier access to rape kits, and more rape kit analysis
Congress finds the following: - Rape is a serious problem.
- In 2006, there were an estimated 261,000 rapes and sexual assaults.
- The collection and testing of DNA evidence is a critical tool in solving rape cases.
- Despite the availability of funding under the Debbie Smith Act of 2004, there exists a significant rape kit backlog.
- A 1999 study estimated that there was an annual backlog of 180,000 rape kits that had not been analyzed.
- No agency regularly collects information regarding the scope of the rape kit backlog.
- Certain States cap reimbursement for rape kits at levels that are less than 1/2 the average cost of a rape kit.
- There is a lack of health professionals who have received specialized training specific to sexual assault victims.
The purpose of this Act is to address the problems surrounding forensic evidence collection in cases of sexual assault, including rape kit backlogs, reimbursement for or free provision of rape kits, and the
availability of trained health professionals to administer rape kit examinations.SPONSOR'S INTRODUCTORY REMARKS:
Sen. FRANKEN: Last year, 90,000 people were raped. Thanks to modern technology, we have an unparalleled tool to bring sexual predators to justice: forensic DNA analysis. Rape kit DNA evidence is survivors' best bet for justice. Unfortunately, we have failed to make adequate use of DNA analysis. In 2004, then-Sen. Biden and others worked to pass the Debbie Smith Act, a law named after a rape survivor whose backlogged rape kit was tested six years after her assault. Unfortunately, because many localities simply did not use the Debbie Smith funds they were allocated, the promise of the Debbie Smith Act remains unfulfilled.
In 2009, Los Angeles had 12,500 untested rape kits; Houston found at least 4,000 untested rape kits in storage, and Detroit reported a backlog of possibly 10,000 kits. Those are just three cities. Hundreds of thousands of women have not seen justice.
Source: Justice for Survivors of Sexual Assault (S2736&HR4114) 2009-S2736 on Nov 5, 2009
Page last updated: Jul 01, 2018