Democratic Delegates and Senators to Hold Public Safety Press Conference

Democratic Delegates and Senators to Hold Public Safety Press Conference

RICHMOND, VA — As Congress and state legislatures around the country consider new safety measures in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary school tragedy, Democratic members of the House and Senate will hold a press conference about steps to enhance public safety on Thursday, January 17th at 11:00 AM in the House Briefing Room.

Senators Donald McEachin, Mark Herring, and Ralph Northam and Delegates David Toscano, Delores McQuinn, and Alfonso Lopez will present legislation to improve mental health services, prohibit military-grade weapons, institute universal background checks, and provide local school districts the flexibility needed to implement sound school security policies. Lori Haas, the mother of a survivor of the Virginia Tech massacre, will speak from her perspective as a family member of someone who survived gun violence.

WHO: Democratic Members of the Virginia Senate and House
WHAT: Public Safety Press Conference
WHERE: House Briefing Room
WHEN: TODAY, Thursday, January 17th at 11:00 AM

Media Advisory: Call on Governor McDonnell and the General Assembly to Compensate Sterilization Victims

Dr. James H. Bell was the superintendent at the Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and Feebleminded.

Media Advisory

WHO: Delegate Patrick Hope

WHAT: Call on Governor McDonnell and the General Assembly to Compensate Sterilization Victims

WHEN: Monday, August 6, 2012, 2PM

WHERE: House Briefing Room - General Assembly Building - Richmond, VA

RICHMOND- This year marks the 85th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's Buck v. Bell decision, which upheld Virginia’s 1924 eugenics sterilization law, a model law used by many other states to sterilize their people. Under this law, Virginia forcibly sterilized 7,500 of its citizens they considered "undesirable," in the name of building a better society. Ten years ago, Governor Mark R. Warner issued a formal apology for the state's decision to sterilize thousands of Virginians. Today we call on Governor Bob McDonnell and the Virginia General Assembly to build upon this apology by providing a symbolic payment to the victims who are still alive.

It is both emblematic and responsible for Virginia to take the lead again on the issue of eugenics sterilization, but this time in becoming the first state to provide relief to the victims. It is appropriate for Virginia to set this example. We call on Gov. Bob McDonnell and the Virginia General Assembly to provide a symbolic payment to those victims of sterilization who are still alive. Compensating these individuals is the just and right thing to do.

Carrie Buck was a patient who was compulsorily sterilized.