I urge you to support HB 612. I understand that today there was testimony that drug courts were the answer, not reclassification. Drug Courts have had declining participation rates in recent years, according to the recent annual report from the Supreme Court. Only 228 people graduated, less than half. In 2020, the failure rate was 58%. Those that don't graduate presumably go to jail to serve out the sentence they pled guilty to. Defendants actually have a higher risk of jail going to drug court than they do if they negotiate a plea. The 74-page report don't even address that issue. They just brag about the $19,000 "savings" drug courts bring to local government, which is utter nonsense. Virtually none of the drug possession defendants spend as much time in jail as a typical drug court participant. And even if that were true, one less prisoner would not mean one less guard. Ask any finance director where the money would be saved. They can't but no one questions that figure. Trying to save Drug Courts by continuing the threat of a 10-year sentence is cruel and unusual. The fact is that the threat of a felony has little effect on a person's decision to use drugs. They simply don't think they will get caught. And most don't. A one-year sentence from a misdemeanor will have exactly the same disincentive as a 10-year felony. But what happens after a person has a felony record, they are less likely to find a good job, will be less likely to find decent housing, and what should get a lot more attention from family-centered politicians, get married, and have strong families with happy children that grow up to be successful adults. Every time a person is given a felony record it degrades Virginia's economic development for decades into the future. For the past year, I've written a weekly newsletter New Era Drug Policy, and I've seen the trend around the country and the world. Treating drug use as a criminal matter has only made things worse. And it's not just liberal states like Oregon, Washington, and California. It's conservative states like Oklahoma, Utah, and Alaska that have defelonized drug possession. Lastly, the threat of a 1-year sentence is PLENTY of incentive to force someone into treatment. Any more is overkill that only makes things worse in a number of ways. You know this is going to happen eventually. Why not do it now.

SAARA of Virginia is in full support of this bill

As a Registered Peer Recovery Specialist and as a Peer Specialist Trainer, I know it is critical that people with current and prior drug offenses be allowed to work on their recovery in the community and be able to avail themselves of treatment of their substance use (and often co-occurring mental health) disorders rather than face jail time and the limited access to recovery services while incarcerated. Jails and prisons are not and should not be considered treatment centers.

I whole heartedly support you TO REDUCE DRUG POSSESSION CHARGES FROM A FELONY TO A MISDEMEANOR Six big things reclassifying possession of drugs from a felony to a misdemeanor can do: 1) Save taxpayer dollars 2) Safely reduce incarceration 3) Invest in alternatives to prison, including drug treatment 4) Keep families together 5) Improve police-community relations 6) Let people work in jobs they're best at, improving the local tax base

Save money, help people, stay current: this is the core of my reasons for you to support HB612. Reducing punishment for Schedule I and II drug possession will save related and compounded costs for the Virginian taxpayer. Felony convictions for simple drug possession are excessive and outdated - loss of civil liberties and income-making ability should not be the punishment for having a disease. Substance abuse disorder is that - a disease - and a public health problem that we should solve, but it shouldn’t be a crime requiring a felony charge. Plus, 18 other states and the federal government, including Mississippi, Iowa, and South Carolina, have reduced this to a misdemeanor, which seems much more reasonable.

I urge to committee to support HB612. We need rational drug policies that put public health, safety, and people first.

HB612 -- Support. Class 1 misdemeanor punishment is more than sufficient for punitive purposes and does not civilly disable people via a felony conviction. HB619 -- Support. It is entirely possible that an individual could be in possession of drug paraphernalia with drug residue on it and never have possessed the drugs themselves. This bill addressed that scenario and forecloses a wrongful conviction on that basis. HB797 -- People in prison are paid pennies on the dollar for their work, and they owe non-waivable court costs on their release. Simple fairness calls for at least giving them the fair value of their wage as an offset against costs that are assessed regardless of indigency or degree of culpability. A basic human-rights measure. HB799 -- At the pennies on the dollar that people in prison are paid, it is impossible for them to make a meaningful effort to pay court costs. It is unfair to compound their regressive taxation by charging them interest for nonpayment that is by definition beyond their control.

We need to de-felonize drug possession and provide drug treatment.

I am a Virginia attorney, also licensed in and have practiced law in three other states. Part of my past work includes prosecution. However, the past decade of my career has been dedicated only to pro bono service related to various legal aid entities. I am also a professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Eastern Mennonite University. Most relevant to this bill however, is my experience growing up in a home where drugs were present. I first smoked marijuana in 7th grade. I was 12 years old. At 14 I visited my sister in the hospital after she had overdosed on heroine. Fearing for their own prosecution and arrest, her "friends" dumped her body on the side of a road where it was luckily found by police. She survived and went on to herself become and attorney, with a 15-year career as a prosecutor, and she and her husband now have their own successful criminal defense firm. My sister was never truly an addict. That was left for my brother. He was a heroine addict for years. I remember once we were hopeful that he was clean. He had a beautiful child, my nephew who is now an adult himself. Our hopes were destroyed when one of us went to move his car in the driveway and found needles underneath the driver seat of his Camry. In the backseat was my nephew's car seat. We grew up in an upper middle class home. My father himself was a government attorney and my mother was a school teacher. We had all the material benefits that anyone could hope for. Substance abuse is not a disease of the "undesirables." It is a disease of pain. These people use and abuse drugs for a reason, and their problems cannot be fixed by destroying the rest of their lives. They need help. My brother, by the grace of God and against all odds, has now been clean for years. He was and is able to be part of the lives of his three children. He is fully employed, law abiding, and a productive member of society. He is a mechanic working for an international automotive company. If either of my siblings had been caught with drugs, they would be felons. Neither of them would be able to contribute to their communities in the ways that they are. Their communities would be worse for their felonization. Worse. The felonization of drug possession is not keeping our communities safe. It is failing our communities. It is harming our communities, as is anyone who intentionally fights defelonization. It also is not backed by the data. Criminologists, sociologists, psychologists, and medical professionals for years have known what individuals with substance abuse issues need. Why do politicians refuse to do what is right? It is unacceptable. Politicians have the job to protect and help their communities. A vote against defelonization is a failure to do either.

I support a public health approach to drug use in Virginia, an approach that is based on the work of social-scientific experts and that limits harm. To treat drug possession as a felony crime is a terrible mistake, for the individuals who possess drugs, for their families, and for our communities. Please DE-FELONIZE drug possession!

Experts and legal counselors can certainly testify to all the reasons why Virginia should de-felonize drug possession. I hope that this committee would vote to pass this key and important legislation in efforts to continue moving Virginia forward in their reform of criminal justice. Reclassifying drug possession from a felony to a misdemeanor is just one step states can take to reduce incarceration and target resources more effectively. This legislation can provide significant cost savings that can be used to increase resources to help provide detoxification facilities, community and residential drug treatment centers and fix the broken behavioral health treatment infrastructure in Virginia. So I appeal to this committee to please pass HB612.

As a physician who has encountered numerous people with substance abuse disorders, I support defelonization of simple drug possession. People with substance use disorders need treatment with drug detoxification centers, harm reduction initiatives, and community and residential drug treatment. In Virginia we do not have enough facilities to treat the drug users who want treatment. People have to wait for beds to open up for them, and too often they die of overdose while waiting. Currently over half of felony convictions in Virginia are for drug possession. If drug possession was de-felonized, there would be massive savings by avoiding trial costs and prison costs. The year after Oklahoma de-felonized drug possession, it had 10,000 fewer indictments, saving huge amounts of money. Money that we saved by de-felonizing drug possession could be spent on expanding the behavioral health infrastructure to treat substance use disorder. This would be more effective in reducing drug use and any associated crimes committed to get the money to pay for drugs. This would improve community safety, help the lives of the families of the substance user, as well as benefitting the substance user directly. Making the substance user a felon doesn't help rehabilitate them; instead, it makes it harder after leaving prison for the person to get a job, housing, and may make them ineligible for public benefits, and student loans. These factors make recovery from substance abuse that much harder. Please support HB 612. Thank you for your consideration of my concerns.

I support reducing the possession of a schedule one or two drug from a felony to a misdemeanor. Substance abuse is not an issue that can be treated with incarceration. It is a disease and for those that struggle with substance abuse it is a life long journey. Making someone a felon for their possession of a drug, causing a myriad of collateral consequences, and placing them in a cycle of incarceration does not help the individual or add to public safety. No one should face up to ten years incarceration for possessing a drug. In practice, some persons face these consequences for only possessing residue, such a small amount that the drug is not measurable. Making this crime a misdemeanor is a public safety and public health issue.

Simply put, it's cruel and unusual to give someone 10 years in prison for possessing a microdose that couldn't get a mouse high. It's really quite possible that there is a detectable amount of drugs on the currency in the wallets of those members of the committee reading this testimony. Are these people really so evil that you should allow this draconian law to continue?

SAARA of Virginia is in full support of this bill

As a Registered Peer Recovery Specialist and as a Peer Specialist Trainer, I know it is critical that people with current and prior drug offenses be allowed to work on their recovery in the community and be able to avail themselves of treatment of their substance use (and often co-occurring mental health) disorders rather than face jail time and the limited access to recovery services while incarcerated. Jails and prisons are not and should not be considered treatment centers.

I whole heartedly support you TO REDUCE DRUG POSSESSION CHARGES FROM A FELONY TO A MISDEMEANOR Six big things reclassifying possession of drugs from a felony to a misdemeanor can do: 1) Save taxpayer dollars 2) Safely reduce incarceration 3) Invest in alternatives to prison, including drug treatment 4) Keep families together 5) Improve police-community relations 6) Let people work in jobs they're best at, improving the local tax base

HB612 -- Support. Class 1 misdemeanor punishment is more than sufficient for punitive purposes and does not civilly disable people via a felony conviction. HB619 -- Support. It is entirely possible that an individual could be in possession of drug paraphernalia with drug residue on it and never have possessed the drugs themselves. This bill addressed that scenario and forecloses a wrongful conviction on that basis. HB797 -- People in prison are paid pennies on the dollar for their work, and they owe non-waivable court costs on their release. Simple fairness calls for at least giving them the fair value of their wage as an offset against costs that are assessed regardless of indigency or degree of culpability. A basic human-rights measure. HB799 -- At the pennies on the dollar that people in prison are paid, it is impossible for them to make a meaningful effort to pay court costs. It is unfair to compound their regressive taxation by charging them interest for nonpayment that is by definition beyond their control.

Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, and committee members: Thank you for the opportunity to comment on HB 16 and thank you, Delegate Fowler, for your work updating our state’s Safe Haven law. We, Virginia is for Children (an advocacy group for the lives of vulnerable children in our state), are following the Safe Haven law efforts and are fully supportive of the extension to thirty days of age for infant relinquishment. This is a reasonable, standard amount of time for a mom/parent to conclude that they cannot parent their baby OR, change their mind and decide they can parent their baby. Such a significant, life-altering decision does not need to be rushed or hurried. We know that moms who have just given birth, especially those who are alone, need time to recover physically and emotionally. Moms can experience postpartum depression after the birth of child, this typically occurs within the first 1-3 weeks after birth, parents can be in desperate situations- experiencing homelessness, abuse, addiction and need time to get help. Twenty-one states are now at thirty days for age of relinquishment. Utah just extended their law to thirty days in February, 2020 and approved funding for safe haven law awareness. Extending this law can potentially save more infants from abuse, neglect, and abandonment and give parents the time they need to make important decisions. We hope the committee will approve the extension and consider providing state funding for safe haven law awareness and promotion of safe haven locations or “safe baby sites”. Not enough parents are informed about the law’s existence and the process involved. Our group is especially interested in a state funded, DSS promoted, 24-hour confidential, crisis hotline that would provide intervention and support for women in crisis pregnancies and struggling parents, so that they can get the help they need to parent their baby. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and committee members for your time and for the opportunity to voice our support of this bill. Sincerely, Leah Kipley VA is for Children

Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, and committee members: Thank you for the opportunity to comment on HB 16 and thank you, Delegate Fowler, for your work updating our state’s Safe Haven law. We, Virginia is for Children (an advocacy group for the lives of vulnerable children in our state), are following the Safe Haven law efforts and are fully supportive of the extension to thirty days of age for infant relinquishment. This is a reasonable, standard amount of time for a mom/parent to conclude that they cannot parent their baby OR, change their mind and decide they can parent their baby. Such a significant, life-altering decision does not need to be rushed or hurried. We know that moms who have just given birth, especially those who are alone, need time to recover physically and emotionally. Moms can experience postpartum depression after the birth of child, this typically occurs within the first 1-3 weeks after birth, parents can be in desperate situations- experiencing homelessness, abuse, addiction and need time to get help. Twenty-one states are now at thirty days for age of relinquishment. Utah just extended their law to thirty days in February, 2020 and approved funding for safe haven law awareness. Extending this law can potentially save more infants from abuse, neglect, and abandonment and give parents the time they need to make important decisions. We hope the committee will approve the extension and consider providing state funding for safe haven law awareness and promotion of safe haven locations or “safe baby sites”. Not enough parents are informed about the law’s existence and the process involved. Our group is especially interested in a state funded, DSS promoted, 24-hour confidential, crisis hotline that would provide intervention and support for women in crisis pregnancies and struggling parents, so that they can get the help they need to parent their baby. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and committee members for your time and for the opportunity to voice our support of this bill. Sincerely, Leah Kipley VA is for Children

Not only is it minorities but also whites who seek justice for themselves as well as minorities. Originally from NC I moved to VA to finish a master degree at Regent University. Because of substance abuse and drug addiction off and on over the past 20 yrs, I have experience in both the criminal justice system and in areas of poor minority housing areas. What better way to show society I have been rehabilitated than stay sober and finish a master's degree I started in 2013. I also got involved with local African American pastors to try n change lives through love n hope. Not so fast . Instead only months after getting that masters degree and getting my NC k-12 teaching license reactivatd I was charged with 8 felonies for supposedly forging to checks from an elderly lady whom I was hired to give her dog diabetic shots twice a day everyday. I voluntary went to the investigating detective and gave an honest statement. A statement she supposedly " forgot to hit the record button on" . Add 8000 in attorneys fees and wat did I get. He's just a junkie who took advantage of an old lady. No showing my reformation. Instead 8 felonies with 5 years each felony all ran consecutive. 40 yrs 39 suspended. First felonies ever. No more school teacher possibilities or being a church worker+ masters in theology. All because I had a passionate voice for justice in a white privilege society while I myself lived in Newport news. And now I n my daughter ( who just got a BSN in nursing worries daily dad will have to do 39 yrs if he misses a po appt or has a relapse and gets a negative drug screen. (Especially in lieu he was victim of sexual assault by a retired naval officer which no one ever believe) The commonwealth is most oppressing state I have ever been in and having played div. one baseball in the early nineties I have been around the country. I gave since gotten more involved SO PLEASE DONT STOP THE MOMENTUM THAT THE COMMONWEALTH HAS MADE THE OAST 4 YEARS. VY PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND TO THE REALITY IF SOME LAWS N POLICE BEHAVIOR. ALL BECAUSE THEY ABD THIER FAMILIES GREW UP PRIVILEGED. I AM UNIQUE IN THAT I AM EDUCATED BUT ALSO A ADDICT WHO GAS LUVED IN THAT WIRKD. A WORLD WGEN RECENT THE COMMONWEALTH JUST SAW MY OAST RECORD, REFUSED TO SEE MY SIVRYN ACCOMPLISHED THE LAST 5 YEARS AND DIDN'T EVEN CONSIDER REHAB ( THAT BASED ON THIER ARGUMENT IFME BEING AN ADDICT. NO KETS JUST THROW HIM IN A 6 × 9 FIR ONE YEAR N HE WILL THINK TWICE BEFORE HE USES AGAIN. HIW F ARCHAIC IS THAT THOUGHT PROCESS. WE AS FIRMER ADDICTS AND CRIMINALS ( 99% DUE TO DRUG USE) ARE WILLING TO ADMIT OUR MISTAKES REPAY SOCIETY N MOVE FORWARD BUT UNFORTUNATELY THIS REVERSAL IN LEGISLATION WILL ONLY ADD TO TGE ONCE ANE POSSIBLE SOON TO BE OPPRESSIVE COMMONWEALTH FOR THE POOR UNEDUCATED N THISE WHI STRUGGLE WITH ADDICTION. IN CLOSING I LIVE IN A CONSERVATIVE COUNT N CITY NOW BUT THEY SEEM TO GET UT. NOT LIKE SOME OF THE OTHER PRODOMIATELY WHITE COMMUNITY. I AM ALWAYS AVAILABLE TO SHARE MY EXPERIENCES W ADDICTION N THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM KEEP TGE MOMENTUM GOING FOR CGANGE HOPE N REHABILITATION. NOT INCARCERATION. SOMETHING WE WOULD NOT EVEN DO TO STRAY ANIMALS

I do not support any bills that criminalize folks

Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, and committee members: Thank you for the opportunity to comment on HB 16 and thank you, Delegate Fowler, for your work updating our state’s Safe Haven law. We, Virginia is for Children (an advocacy group for the lives of vulnerable children in our state), are following the Safe Haven law efforts and are fully supportive of the extension to thirty days of age for infant relinquishment. This is a reasonable, standard amount of time for a mom/parent to conclude that they cannot parent their baby OR, change their mind and decide they can parent their baby. Such a significant, life-altering decision does not need to be rushed or hurried. We know that moms who have just given birth, especially those who are alone, need time to recover physically and emotionally. Moms can experience postpartum depression after the birth of child, this typically occurs within the first 1-3 weeks after birth, parents can be in desperate situations- experiencing homelessness, abuse, addiction and need time to get help. Twenty-one states are now at thirty days for age of relinquishment. Utah just extended their law to thirty days in February, 2020 and approved funding for safe haven law awareness. Extending this law can potentially save more infants from abuse, neglect, and abandonment and give parents the time they need to make important decisions. We hope the committee will approve the extension and consider providing state funding for safe haven law awareness and promotion of safe haven locations or “safe baby sites”. Not enough parents are informed about the law’s existence and the process involved. Our group is especially interested in a state funded, DSS promoted, 24-hour confidential, crisis hotline that would provide intervention and support for women in crisis pregnancies and struggling parents, so that they can get the help they need to parent their baby. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and committee members for your time and for the opportunity to voice our support of this bill. Sincerely, Leah Kipley VA is for Children

Compensation Board staff is not available to be present for the meeting today in the event of any questions, however, the agency has no concerns and concurs with the Department of Forensic Science's request for this proposal. Staff has encouraged DFS staff to note Compensation Board staff concurrence at today's meeting.

Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, and committee members: Thank you for the opportunity to comment on HB 16 and thank you, Delegate Fowler, for your work updating our state’s Safe Haven law. We, Virginia is for Children (an advocacy group for the lives of vulnerable children in our state), are following the Safe Haven law efforts and are fully supportive of the extension to thirty days of age for infant relinquishment. This is a reasonable, standard amount of time for a mom/parent to conclude that they cannot parent their baby OR, change their mind and decide they can parent their baby. Such a significant, life-altering decision does not need to be rushed or hurried. We know that moms who have just given birth, especially those who are alone, need time to recover physically and emotionally. Moms can experience postpartum depression after the birth of child, this typically occurs within the first 1-3 weeks after birth, parents can be in desperate situations- experiencing homelessness, abuse, addiction and need time to get help. Twenty-one states are now at thirty days for age of relinquishment. Utah just extended their law to thirty days in February, 2020 and approved funding for safe haven law awareness. Extending this law can potentially save more infants from abuse, neglect, and abandonment and give parents the time they need to make important decisions. We hope the committee will approve the extension and consider providing state funding for safe haven law awareness and promotion of safe haven locations or “safe baby sites”. Not enough parents are informed about the law’s existence and the process involved. Our group is especially interested in a state funded, DSS promoted, 24-hour confidential, crisis hotline that would provide intervention and support for women in crisis pregnancies and struggling parents, so that they can get the help they need to parent their baby. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and committee members for your time and for the opportunity to voice our support of this bill. Sincerely, Leah Kipley VA is for Children

I'm a volunteer with Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, and I support this bill.

I do not support any bills that criminalize folks

Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, and committee members: Thank you for the opportunity to comment on HB 16 and thank you, Delegate Fowler, for your work updating our state’s Safe Haven law. We, Virginia is for Children (an advocacy group for the lives of vulnerable children in our state), are following the Safe Haven law efforts and are fully supportive of the extension to thirty days of age for infant relinquishment. This is a reasonable, standard amount of time for a mom/parent to conclude that they cannot parent their baby OR, change their mind and decide they can parent their baby. Such a significant, life-altering decision does not need to be rushed or hurried. We know that moms who have just given birth, especially those who are alone, need time to recover physically and emotionally. Moms can experience postpartum depression after the birth of child, this typically occurs within the first 1-3 weeks after birth, parents can be in desperate situations- experiencing homelessness, abuse, addiction and need time to get help. Twenty-one states are now at thirty days for age of relinquishment. Utah just extended their law to thirty days in February, 2020 and approved funding for safe haven law awareness. Extending this law can potentially save more infants from abuse, neglect, and abandonment and give parents the time they need to make important decisions. We hope the committee will approve the extension and consider providing state funding for safe haven law awareness and promotion of safe haven locations or “safe baby sites”. Not enough parents are informed about the law’s existence and the process involved. Our group is especially interested in a state funded, DSS promoted, 24-hour confidential, crisis hotline that would provide intervention and support for women in crisis pregnancies and struggling parents, so that they can get the help they need to parent their baby. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and committee members for your time and for the opportunity to voice our support of this bill. Sincerely, Leah Kipley VA is for Children

I do not support any bills that criminalize folks

HB612 -- Support. Class 1 misdemeanor punishment is more than sufficient for punitive purposes and does not civilly disable people via a felony conviction. HB619 -- Support. It is entirely possible that an individual could be in possession of drug paraphernalia with drug residue on it and never have possessed the drugs themselves. This bill addressed that scenario and forecloses a wrongful conviction on that basis. HB797 -- People in prison are paid pennies on the dollar for their work, and they owe non-waivable court costs on their release. Simple fairness calls for at least giving them the fair value of their wage as an offset against costs that are assessed regardless of indigency or degree of culpability. A basic human-rights measure. HB799 -- At the pennies on the dollar that people in prison are paid, it is impossible for them to make a meaningful effort to pay court costs. It is unfair to compound their regressive taxation by charging them interest for nonpayment that is by definition beyond their control.

HB612 -- Support. Class 1 misdemeanor punishment is more than sufficient for punitive purposes and does not civilly disable people via a felony conviction. HB619 -- Support. It is entirely possible that an individual could be in possession of drug paraphernalia with drug residue on it and never have possessed the drugs themselves. This bill addressed that scenario and forecloses a wrongful conviction on that basis. HB797 -- People in prison are paid pennies on the dollar for their work, and they owe non-waivable court costs on their release. Simple fairness calls for at least giving them the fair value of their wage as an offset against costs that are assessed regardless of indigency or degree of culpability. A basic human-rights measure. HB799 -- At the pennies on the dollar that people in prison are paid, it is impossible for them to make a meaningful effort to pay court costs. It is unfair to compound their regressive taxation by charging them interest for nonpayment that is by definition beyond their control.

I do not support any bills that criminalize folks