Tag: Virginia General Assembly

Senator Saddam Azlan Salim is once again working to protect individuals’ Fourth Amendment rights, which safeguard against unreasonable searches and seizures. In Virginia, it is a common practice for Commonwealth’s Attorneys to draft plea agreements that require defendants to waive their Fourth Amendment rights in exchange for reduced charges or lighter sentences. Charge All Your Devices at Once: 5-in-1 Fast Charging Station w/ Wireless Charging Senator Salim has filed SB 23 for the 2026 Session of the Virginia General Assembly. The bill would prohibit plea agreements and court orders from containing provisions that extinguish a defendant’s Fourth Amendment rights or limit their ability to seek expungement. SB 23 includes a carve-out whereby it won’t apply in cases involving sex...

Virginia lawmakers have had enough of sheriffs abusing the ability to use shackles on children in court. Now, the question is whether Governor Glenn Youngkin will sign a bill into law that limits the practice. “Virginia law currently allows indiscriminate shackling of children in court. Children are forced to appear weighted down by handcuffs, leg irons, and belly chains,” Senator Lamont Bagby told colleagues in the Committee for Courts of Justice. He acknowledged that the overwhelming number of jurisdictions do not shackle youth at all. But there are about four jurisdictions across the state that shackle every child, he told members of the committee. “The goal of this is remedy the challenge of jurisdictions abusing the ability to shackle children in courtrooms,” he said. Babg...