Law & Crime

A Virginia lawmaker known for his extreme opposition to abortion has been charged with cruelty and injury to children.  Richard Lee Morris of Suffolk was arrested earlier this week.

What happens when children get involved in the criminal justice system? Oftentimes, they get sent to large juvenile facilities, which critics say leads to a cycle of getting re-arrested and ultimately a life of crime and imprisonment. Now state leaders are trying to break that cycle. 

Yesterday, in a story exclusive to WVTF and the Washington Post, reporter Sandy Hausman revealed new evidence in the case of a former UVA honors student, convicted in 1990 in the bloody murder of his girlfriend’s parents.  DNA analysis now appears to confirm what Jens Soering has been saying all along - that another man committed the crime.  Today, we look at additional evidence supporting Soering’s request for a pardon from the governor.

Several members of the Virginia congressional delegation are calling the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to take swift action against mandatory arbitration clauses. Those are provisions tucked away into consumer financial contracts that allow corporations to avoid lawsuits. 

As schools across Virginia prepare for the end of summer and the first day of classes, superintendents and principals will be waiting to hear the outcome in a dramatic court case that could have a lasting influence for transgender students across the country.

A Gloucester County transgender student will not be able to use the bathroom that corresponds to his gender identity when classes start this fall. That’s because four justices on the Supreme Court are blocking an injunction issued by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in his case against the school system there.