Virginia Democrats vote down bill that would serve harsher penalties to drug dealers

A Virginia Senate committee narrowly defeated laws Wednesday that would develop the circumstances wherein a drug seller might be charged with felony murder in reference to a person’s loss of life.

The bill, a precedence of Gov. Glenn Youngkin and fellow Republicans, was pitched as a deterrent to criminals that would save lives amid the rising tide of overdose deaths, notably these attributable to fentanyl. However, the Democrats on the committee who voted it down voiced skepticism that stiffer penalties, somewhat than an strategy centered on substance abuse remedy, would successfully handle the basis causes of the difficulty.

“I think the policy difference that we’re encountering in committee here is, what’s the right way to attack this? And do we attack it the way we attacked things in the ’90s?” stated Senate Democratic Leader Scott Surovell, who heads the committee.

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The bill basically sought to overrule a 2014 Court of Appeals choice that put time and place limits on how far eliminated a seller might be from a person’s loss of life to nonetheless be charged with felony murder, bill sponsor Sen. Ryan McDougle stated in an interview.

McDougle, the Senate’s Republican chief, and others who testified in assist of his bill advised the committee that, at present, if a seller bought medication to a person, left the scene and the purchaser died afterward, the seller couldn’t be charged with felony homicide, which carries a 5- to 40-year sentence. However, if an individual shared medication with buddies at a celebration, and somebody died through the get together, the one that offered the medication may face that cost.

“We were hoping that this bill would pass to say that regardless of how far away you get, or how long it was, if your drugs are the poison that killed somebody, you should be held accountable,” stated Nate Green, the commonwealth’s lawyer for Williamsburg and James City County, who advocated for the measure.

The committee voted 8-7 towards the bill, with just one Democrat voting in its favor.

Lawmakers heard testimony from round 10 individuals who stated they’d misplaced a baby or one other beloved one to a drug overdose. Some of the audio system held pictures of their family members and pleaded with lawmakers to assist the bill.

Jennifer Johnson, of suburban Richmond, described the horror of discovering the lifeless our bodies of her son and his girlfriend in August 2020. In an interview, Johnson stated her 19-year-old son PJ died after attending an open mic night time and taking a counterfeit tablet laced with fentanyl.

Johnson discovered textual content messages on her son’s telephone that confirmed an trade with the particular person she believes offered the tablet. No costs have been introduced in reference to the deaths, although it’s her understanding there’s nonetheless an open investigation, she stated.

“I’m not really here because it’s going to make a difference in our situation. But, I mean, so many people are continuing to die,” Johnson stated.

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Opponents of the bill argued that prosecutors have drug distribution costs that can be utilized to punish dangerous actors and carry equally powerful penalties.

Shawn Weneta, a lobbyist for the ACLU of Virginia, warned the committee that the measure may have a chilling impact on reporting or looking for assistance on behalf of individuals in an overdose due to the worry of punishment.

“Unfortunately, what this is going to do is lead to situations where people are not going to report. They’re going to abandon them,” he stated.

Surovell, who expressed sympathy for the victims’ households, stated he had “communicated” to Youngkin that a greater place to discover widespread floor with the General Assembly’s Democratic majority would be focusing extra assets “to catch the people who do this.” He stated he hoped policymakers would additionally make investments extra money in psychological well being to “reduce pressure on the demand side of the equation.”

The committee voted to cross the bill on an 8-7 vote, with Democrat Russet Perry, a former prosecutor, voting with Republicans. The committee did advance a separate measure from Sen. Bill DeSteph that would create a activity power to research methods to fight fentanyl, heroin and different related managed substances after amending it to take away provisions related to McDougle’s bill.

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Lawmakers have grappled with the query for years. In 2019, then-Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat, vetoed an analogous measure after lawmakers rejected his try to amend it. Last 12 months, an analogous measure was defeated.

Youngkin has made the matter a vocal precedence throughout his time in workplace. His spokesman, Christian Martinez, stated in a press release that it was “troubling that most Democrat legislators are once again siding with fentanyl makers and dealers over victims’ families.”

Jill Cichowicz, whose twin brother died almost seven years in the past after taking a tablet laced with fentanyl, stated after the listening to that the households who testified have been upset within the vote. But Cichowicz stated she was holding out hope that the measure should have a path ahead within the Democrat-controlled House of Delegates, the place related laws has not but been heard.

If the House did advance that measure, the bill would then want the Senate’s approval earlier than it may go to Youngkin’s desk.