Please help us petition the Governor of Virginia for a Conditional Pardon for William. Justice is supposed to be fare, firm and just; while still being reformative. William has now served over 15 years of a 25-year sentence, which far surpasses standard sentencing for the convicted offence. We appeal to you to sign this petition so that it can be forwarded to the Governor as a show of solidarity, compassion and support. By doing so you will not just be drawing the attention of legislators to his case, but the continued urgency to correct the errors of the current criminal justice system and to continue on a productive progression of criminal justice reform in the State of Virginia.
From the perspective of criminal justice policy and reform, and in comparison to similar states, the State of Virginia maintains some of the harshest sentencing regulations and exorbitant mandatory minimums; despite numerous federal studies proving both to be counterproductive or abject failures of the criminal justice system. The Commonwealth has only very recently begun an initiative to pass legislation or begin to reconsider many of the outdated policies that continue to be enacted into law. Though their progression should be commended to date, it still falls far short of the level of reform that has been enacted into law in other states with comparable population, social, economic and other such contributing factors.
For additional ways to assist William, please visit the Advocate VA website here. Advocate VA seeks to bridge the sizeable gap between legislators, legislative policy and those advocating for positive social change, inmate rights and progressive criminal justice reform in the State of Virginia. They are a non-partisan advocacy grassroots movement, which through collaboration with reputable advocacy groups and the private citizenry, seek to bring attention to the continued and longstanding bias of those currently incarcerated, while proactively assisting their peers and extended families petition for urgent criminal justice reform for individuals such as William.
Currently they have both a petition (which can be found here) and a form letter to delegates (which can be found here) advocating for felony robbery to be removed from the lengthy list of exemptions of the Goodtime Bill by way of a formal request for delegate sponsorship of a Bill amending Code of Virginia § 18.2-58 to assign individual section codes to the newly defined Classes of felony robbery being 3, 5, and 6; those convictions not resulting in serious bodily injury or unlawful bodily injury. With the intent and purpose to be implemented retroactively, through petition to the court. Should this bill be passed into law, it would be removing non violent robbery offences from the harsh and long list of exemptions under the stipulations of the new Good Time Bill, which would go to reducing the amount of time William has remaining to serve on his sentence.
Write the Governor of Virginia requesting a Conditional Pardon for William, by copying and pasting the form letter found here into your email, and sending to advocateva@outlook.com
Share the link to the online petition, simply copy and paste the direct link to the Conditional Pardon Petition and share on social media, with advocacy groups or other such interested parties to help advocate for William. http://chng.it/GvsdyVL6c4