MAY

APV calls on the Virginia Department of Corrections, The Governor and the General Assembly to begin an immediate investigation into conditions at Red Onion State Prison.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 25th, 2012 – Richmond, Virginia

The Alliance for Progressive Values wishes to acknowledge and highlight the ongoing prisoner hunger strike which began this weekend at the Red Onion SuperMax facility in Wise County. SuperMax prisons are by definition grim places. They are designed to house individuals who are considered dangerous to the staff and other prisoners as well as the public. Many of these prisoners suffer from mental illness and have histories of anti-social behavior and violence. Clearly the job of guarding and administering such a population is difficult, and at times trying.

HOWEVER, we as a society have chosen to take on the responsibility that goes with the right we reserve to incarcerate. It is incumbent on us to house and care for these individuals in a way that is fundamentally humane and that acknowledges their basic rights as human beings, not merely in a way that satisfies particular rules, but in a way that reflects on us as a people, and how we choose to treat a despised and powerless segment of society. On May 21st, prisoners in two segregation pods began a hunger strike in protest of the conditions at Red Onion. After over a decade in existence, Red Onion continues to have serious problems including the murder of a prisoner in custody and claims of physical and sexual abuse at the hands of guards. The prisoners’ list of grievances casts a wan light on an institution that clearly needs better oversight.

APV calls on the Virginia Department of Corrections, The Governor and the General Assembly to begin an immediate investigation into conditions at Red Onion. We also counsel that third parties be part of this investigation and that they include groups which speak for prisoners.

Issues that should be addressed in such an investigation include:

• Claims of ongoing abuse and violence directed at prisoners from guards.
• The current practice of indefinite segregation and isolation as a means of punishment.
Indefinite solitary confinement is both inhumane and counterproductive as a means of discipline.
• An end to the caging of prisoners in stacked cells. This is deeply degrading to the inmates and
should be a cause of shame to the Commonwealth.
• Apparent problems with the grievance system and an introduction of a better system for
problem mediation between prisoners and staff.
• Investigation into the prisoners' diet, clean cells and other basic aspects of how Red Onion is
run on a day to day basis.
• The continued poor communications between administration and inmates.

Invariably we will be told that these are the worst of the worst, that they are getting exactly what they deserve and that we on the outside have no idea what goes on behind those prison walls. BUT many of the men now behind bars at Red Onion will one day be released. Many of them were originally convicted of lesser crimes and found their way to Red Onion because of conduct issues. From troubling reports which have seeped out over the years and new complaints from inmates, it appears that whatever ameliorative effects incarceration might once have been thought to have, nothing of the kind is occurring here. Instead, we have a correctional system which in its zeal to punish and control is in fact helping to create potential monsters who will eventually be returned to their communities - angry, hardened and often further and more deeply disturbed by their stay in prison. It serves us best as a society to treat these individuals with enough respect and dignity while they are in our power, that when they emerge, they are not actually worse people than when they went in.

Statement on Thorne-Begland nomination rejection
May 15, 2012

We're very disappointed if not very surprised that the House of Delegates rejected the Thorne-Begland judgeship nomination. Tracy Thorne-Begland is an openly gay prosecutor here in Richmond; he has a sterling record and should have easily been appointed to the bench. But the radical Right led again by Del. Bob Marshall and the Family Foundation used its oversized power to sink the Thorne-Begland nomination yesterday at the Capitol in a largely party line vote. While all the other judges got near unanimous approval Thorne-Begland received only 33 votes. In a year that already feels like one endless embarrassment, it is yet another black mark on the Commonwealth that here in Virginia in 2012, such base bigotry should be on such banal display in our legislature. Sometimes it seems as if these people have no shame. We should note that local Republican Delegate Manoli Loupassi, who co-nominated Thorne-Begland, supported and voted for the prosecutor in chambers yesterday. We don't always agree with Manoli, but we are grateful for and acknowledge his courage here.

Richmond City Council's Public Hearing on the RPS budget

Below is APV's statement on the Richmond Public Schools' budget shortfall delivered by Citizen Lobbyist Kirsten Gray before the Richmond City Council, on May 14th, 2012.

The Alliance for Progressive Values supports the use of city funds to make up the shortfall in the Richmond Public Schools' budget. While the issue of school funding and the operation of the City School system are complex and often contentious, we believe that it is appropriate in this case to extend the funding and make up the difference because not to do so would allow an even heavier burden to fall on the teachers, parents and students at the heart of RPS.

Many diverse factors have been at work to bring us to this situation and many of these factors are beyond the ability of local entities to influence. The ongoing fallout from the economic collapse at the end of the last decade has forced systems and individuals into stark and often painful compromises, and the schools system has not been immune. We are also dealing with an administration and legislature at the state level that is clearly antagonistic towards teachers and public education in general, and which has rolled back state education funding in the biannual state budget to 2007 levels. For a decade we’ve had to deal with a federal education program more interested in test scores than in educational outcomes, and more interested in punishing low achievement than in encouraging high achievement. Big city schools systems are the first to feel the effects of these policies and they often feel them most acutely. Urban school districts are often posed with unique and difficult circumstances that arise from systemic issues that affect the larger community as a whole. Poverty, crime and the lingering effects of racism all have an impact on urban schools and need to be understood, acknowledged and ameliorated to the best of our abilities.

In the specific case of the Richmond Public Schools, we have many instances of success in the face of hard challenges and we need to build on these successes and nurture and support the principals and administrators who are working so hard to enrich the lives of our children. While proving that success and achievement are readily attainable in even the most hard-hit and traditionally under served communities, RPS still suffers from many of the ills associated with large bureaucracies. There seems to be a knee-jerk opposition in some quarters to new ideas and change and a predisposition towards factionalism and a tendency to let interpersonal conflicts guide policy. In the case of this budget, the school system seems to have had clear signs that belt tightening was needed, but instead it ignored the looming problem and the advice of auditors and experts and went ahead with a “business as usual” attitude. That included a large and ill-timed raise for the superintendent while buildings stand idle and teachers have to go into their own pockets for supplies so that students won’t go without.

Some will argue that City Council should not make up the deficit in the RPS budget; they will say it is sending good money after bad and that the system is badly broken and this should be a wake-up call. They are right that this needs to be a wake-up call. This crisis should be seen as a chance to make serious and substantial changes to the way the RPS operate. We need real accountability and we need to listen to parents and teachers more than professional bureaucrats, some of whom seem more interested in protecting their personal fiefdoms than serving their community.

We support the City Council making up the difference this year because not to do so would be to further exacerbate an already difficult situation for the families most affected. But we want this money to come with the understanding that real, substantial changes must follow. The school system has been given many options on how best to utilize its limited resources and they need to do a better job in the future, but for now we need to step in and help bridge this gap. In conclusion we ask that the City Council find the funds to meet this crisis.

May Salon

Thank you to everyone who joined us May 14th, 2012 at our monthly Salon at Helen's Restaurant. We gathered for good food & hardy discussion. Thank you to Jake Helmbolt for his engaging discussion about what the city is doing regarding urban planning for public transportation, pedestrian walkways, bike paths & trails. There was no shortage of questions and great ideas!

Letter to the Virginia Board of Health regarding TRAP

On May 10th APV and many of its members joined women's reproductive rights activists from across the Commonwealth in asking the Virginia Board of Health to reject the final, emergency rules governing clinics that perform abortions. These onerous and unnecessary rules will have a devastating effect on women's access to abortion in the Commonwealth and APV has opposed them since their original passage in 2011. Below is our letter sent to BoH Chairman Bruce Edwards.

I am writing to you today regarding the emergency regulations that are now before the Board of Health on clinics that perform abortions as part of their medical services for women. Because of their specificity and their punitive nature, these regulations are often referred to as Targeted Regulations against Abortion Providers or TRAP. TRAP represents a coordinated and targeted assault on women’s reproductive healthcare in Virginia and I have written to, and testified before your board in opposition to them in the past on behalf of the Alliance for Progressive Values. In implementing these regulations the Virginia Board of Health is placing extremely cost prohibitive regulations on abortion clinics when abortion access in the Commonwealth is already limited. The regulations have no basis in medical best practices and serve only to make it harder for women to gain access to a legal and safe procedure. In fact, an advisory panel of medical experts found these regulations to be medically unnecessary, sadly their recommendations have been ignored.

Both in my official capacity and as an individual citizen, I strongly urge you and your fellow members at the Virginia Board of Health to allow the current emergency regulations to expire. Clinics that provide abortions as a part of their women's health services should be held to the same standards as other clinics that provide safe, outpatient medical services. There is no medical reason that abortion clinics should be regulated any differently from other clinics, especially given that abortion is one of the safest procedures in outpatient medicine.

Sincerely,
Scott Price
Public Policy Director
Alliance for Progressive Values

NEW APV TASK FORCE DIRECTORS

May 9, 2012

APV is pleased to welcome Mr. Chris Saladino and Mr. Jonathan Cunningham to our Public Policy Department. Both of our new Deputy Directors bring strong backgrounds with them that inform their work at APV.

Chris Saladino will head our task force on Sustainable Agriculture and the Food Supply. He is a political science professor at Virginia Commonwealth University and did his post-graduate work at the University of Virginia. Professor Saladino specializes in international relations and comparative politics.

Jonathan Cunningham will head the Environmental and Clean Energy task force. He is an activist and student and has been active with the Occupy Wall Street movement and with the reproductive rights for women movement here in Virginia.

Lawrence “Jay” Tubb
APV Press Liaison
Alliance for Progressive Values

APV testifies at the hearing on Dominion's IRP - May 8th, 2012

Alliance for Progressive Values Public Policy Director, Scott Price, testified before the Virginia State Corporation Commission on May 8th, 2012 on the proposed fifteen year (15) Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), submitted by Dominion Power/VEPCO. On behalf of APV, Mr. Price asked the board to reject Dominion’s plan which contains little to nothing in the way of alternative energy options like wind and solar and instead focuses almost exclusively on a fossil fuel future for the Commonwealth.

“With enormous profits should come large responsibilities.” Scott Price

Here's an article in the Huffington Post about the hearing and APV is quoted.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/08/dominion-virginia-power-criticized_n_1500978.html

Below is a statement from APV Deputy Policy Director and Environment and Clean Energy Task Force Chair, Jonathan Cunningham, outlining APV’s position on Dominion’s IRP:

While Alliance for Progressive Values commends any effort, no matter how small, to convert to clean, safe and renewable energy sources, Dominion must make a stronger commitment to move away from the dirty energy of the past and embrace the clean and renewable energy that is so clearly our future, for both the health of our citizens and for the energy security of our country. Dominion’s recently released energy plan has not made a sufficient effort in this direction- it fails to account for the incumbent costs of fossil fuel use, to move from the risks of nuclear power, or to dedicate a sufficient proportion of its production mechanism to clean energy sources.

As written, Dominion’s current plan would derive only a small percentage of its total produced energy from clean or renewable sources over the next fifteen years. Thus, clean energy would account for the power of an unacceptably fractional 36,000 homes out of the two million Virginia customers that Dominion currently supplies. The majority of the plan reflects a continued reliance on nonrenewable fossil fuels and costly nuclear options.

The human and environmental costs of fossil fuel use are well known, and range from local health problems to the global environmental impact of climate change. Dominion’s past behavior in regards to nuclear power- notably, their construction of the Lake Anna nuclear plant on a known fault line, and the lies they told the public and regulatory agencies about it- gives us little confidence in their assurances of reliability.

Dominion must expend more effort in moving away from fossil fuels and nuclear power, towards solar and wind energy.

Solar energy, specifically, is one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy, employing 93,000 Americans as of 2010 (more people than the oil industry employs). So far Dominion has been disinterested in pursuing solar power in Virginia. This needs to change. A distributed grid that features solar as a component would safeguard our energy security, help combat climate change and bring well-paying jobs to Virginia. Dominion’s fifteen year plan needs to focus on making it easier for our citizens to access solar energy, not putting further obstacles in their way.

Virginia also has the fourth largest wind potential on the East Coast; there is enough potential energy in offshore wind to power the entire state. Near term, wind could provide as much as 10% of Virginia’s energy needs; much more than allowed for in Dominion’s fifteen year plan.

Dominion must move to exploit the ample solar and wind resources present in Virginia. We need less foot dragging, more wind farms, more solar panels, and fewer coal-fired and nuclear power plants. The minimal effort Dominion expends on clean energy usage and development has a measurable cost for the state of Virginia: more than half of Virginia’s jurisdictions earned a failing grade for ozone pollution, and three failed for particulate matter pollution in a study from the Virginia Lung Association. Today 2.3% of Virginia children and 6.2% of adults suffer from asthma, the highest rate in the nation. These health and environmental effects constitute the hidden costs of a reliance on fossil fuels for energy generation.

By requiring Dominion to pursue clean and renewable energy solutions, the State Corporation Commission can help insure our stable and secure energy future, bring more and better jobs to the Commonwealth, and protect the health of Virginia citizens. The Alliance for Progressive Values councils the SCC to reject any plan that does not contain a substantial clean and renewable energy component.

ALLIANCE FOR PROGRESSIVE VALUES GROWS

May 3, 2012
The Alliance for Progressive Values is continuing to grow as the largest progressive outreach organization in central Virginia. The APV Board of Directors is excited to announce three new members of the APV staff.

• Ms. Victoria Bragunier - Deputy Public Policy Director
  Victoria will oversee our Task Force on Voter Suppression and Clean Elections. Victoria brings with her to APV a strong background in investigative journalism and legislative work here in Virginia and elsewhere. She holds a law degree from the University of Baltimore and is the current President of the Richmond, Virginia chapter of the National Organization of Women.

• Lawrence “Jay” Tubb - Press Liaison
  Jay is a native Richmonder with years of experience in progressive causes and activism since the Reagan and during the Bush years, volunteering for local candidates and during the New Hampshire primary for Howard Dean. Inspired by the corporate takeover in American politics, Jay has returned to local activism determined to help restore progressive values in Virginia politics.
  
  
• William Carino – Social Media Director
  William started his political journey in high school, volunteering for the John Kerry campaign and later the Obama campaign. In college, William was a coordinator for Virginia21, a non-profit higher education advocacy organization. This past fall, he joined Occupy Richmond performing social media and press liaison responsibilities. William was a lead organizer for the Women’s Rights protests at the Capitol during the 2012 General Assembly session, where he also managed social media outreach and press communications.

APV will be filling multiple positions over the next few months as we prepare for the 2012 elections and beyond. Contact information for all APV staff can be found on this site under “Contact Us”.

Lawrence “Jay” Tubb
Press Liaison- Alliance for Progressive Values

PUBLIC COMMENT ON VDOT SIX (6) YEAR TRANSPORTATION PLAN

Alliance for Progressive Values Public Policy Director Scott Price testified before the Commonwealth Transportation Board on May 2nd in Richmond on the proposed six (6) year transportation plan for Virginia.

While a number of local jurisdictions appeared before committee to lobby for certain projects, the bulk of the testimony belonged to advocates in favor of less road construction, and more investment in rail and public transportation. Joining Mr. Price in testifying were representatives from the Green Party, the Sierra Club and the Southern Environmental Law Center. In his testimony Mr. Price asked for:

• More funding and an expansion of rail projects, including the Dulles Metro, the VRE (Virginia Railway Express) and Amtrak.


• More funding to be allocated to strengthen and expand local Bus systems across the Commonwealth.


• More light-rail for urban communities. Light-rail has been shown to have a strong positive effect not only on lessening traffic problems and commuter issues, but also in revitalizing the neighborhoods it passes through.


• More money for and greater effort towards high-speed rail linking Newport News/Norfolk with Northern Virginia by way of Richmond.


• Less emphasis and funding for new road construction and more on maintaining existing infrastructure including bridges and road surfaces.


• More funding for pedestrian, bicycle and other alternate forms of transport.


• Full funding for the Intercity Passenger Rail Operational Capital Fund. In the present plan, the IPROCF is under-funded to the tune of 190 million dollars over the next six (6) years.


• By the same token, the Department of Public Rail Transport which has done very well since its recent inception needs to be supported, expanded and fully funded.


• Virginia needs to stop throwing good money after bad on useless and even harmful white elephants like the Outer Beltway, RT. 460 between Hampton Roads and Petersburg, The Coalfields Expressway in Southwest Virginia and the notorious Rt. 29 by-pass in Charlottesville. Not only are these projects a waste of taxpayer money, once started, they will continue to drain funds for years to come, funds that could be used for green projects that serve a real purpose.

The review process for the CTB six (6) year plan will continue and APV will have more on this important issue as well as ways for you to make your voice heard with the CTB. In the near future our Environment and Clean Energy Task Force will have more to say about the vital role of transportation policy in making Virginia a cleaner, healthier and more pleasant place for us all to live.

May Day
May 1st, 2012

While not officially involved in the May Day events scheduled for today including marches and a call for a general strike, APV is very sympathetic to many of the concerns and aspirations that have traditionally revolved around the first of May. So while the press may end up fixating about confrontations between authorities and protesters we’d like to draw your attention to some of the serious issues that this day’s events are meant to be highlighting.

• Stalled wages: over the last three decades the cost of living has continued to rise, but average wages have not moved. While worker productivity has skyrocketed compensation has not kept pace. Instead profits for the wealthy have soared over this period creating the largest gap between rich and poor since the 1920s and effectively shrinking a broad middle class that gave us the strong underpinning that a democracy needs to survive.

• During this same period a concerted war against organized labor has raged. Union busting has been largely successful in much of the United States and there is clear evidence that it has contributed to the previous problem of stalled wages. When workers can no longer bargain collectively to leverage concessions from corporate bosses, the outcome is invariably lower wages, longer hours and less safe working conditions.

• America is the only industrialized nation that does not provide its citizens with a state funded healthcare system. This places massive stress on both industry and on labor. State sponsored healthcare is simply cheaper and more effective than the Byzantine, patchwork system that exists today. While some elements of the 2009 Affordable Care Act were laudable, its focus on preserving the current system was a bad idea and we need to move ahead with a universal, single payer plan that removes the profit motive as the prime indicator for healthcare outcomes.

• In the second decade of the 21st century women still make 77 cents on the dollar compared to their male counterparts. Women deserve equal pay for equal work! Women deserve equal pay, but they also need support if they choose not to work or to work less in order to have children. We need to support American families with longer maternity leaves and better childcare alternatives as well as options for men that would allow them to share more fully in raising their children. Measures like these would go a long way to helping women finally achieve parity. In the meantime, women need to be paid the same as men for the same work.

• America needs a financial system that serves American workers and protects them from the most harmful byproducts of globalization. Companies have to stop being rewarded for moving jobs overseas or from using that threat as a wedge to pry even more concessions from our already battered workers. The continued assault on labor has taken the form of union busting, off shoring, and more recently moves to bring back relics from the Gilded Age, like legal sweat shops and child labor. While a global economy may be inevitable, there is no reason that the burdens and stresses associated with it should be born solely by the workers and their families.

For a generation now America has been steadily moving backwards on issues that involve labor and the rights and privileges of workers. It’s time to stop this harmful trend. May Day originated in the U.S. in 1867 as part of the agitation for an eight hour work day. It’s sad that 145 years later we’re still fighting for some of the same basic rights that fueled the Progressive Movement and the New Deal. Today we urge you to stop and think at some point during your busy day at work, or if you chose to strike or if you chose to do something in between, about the fact that if we don’t diligently foster and protect our rights, including our right to a decent wage, a safe working environment and the right to organize and bargain collectively, we will surely lose them. Happy May Day from the Alliance for Progressive Values.

APRIL

Carver Community Day

Alliance for Progressive Values had a table at Carver Community Day this past Saturday, April 28th. Members of the community came out to enjoy games, food and entertainment. Several organizations where on hand distributing educational materials, assisting with voter registration and even DMV had a truck on site to process ID cards.

APV April Salon

APV's April Salon was really great. We heard from our local Richmond area committee chairwoman, Lora Toothman, about our initiatives in the fields of clean energy, sustainable ag and transportation. Thank you Lora and thank you to the committee for your hard work. We'll be posting more info in the near future.

Update: NRC's judgments on petition regarding North Anna

We have received the NRC's judgments on the petition we cosigned last fall dealing with the North Anna reactors and the earthquake in August. While they have taken several of our requests under advisement, or as Paul Gunter from Beyond Nuclear puts it "kicked them down the road", they've either ignored or passed the buck on many others. The NRC's Inspector General will look into some of the irregularities in the rushed start up of units 1 and 2, but we are not optimistic. APV will continue to work on this issue. It is important for the powers that be to know that we are here and we are watching.

Inside Job Screening

On April 1st APV continued our film series at the Friends Meeting House with the Academy Award winning documentary "Inside Job". We had a lively discussion afterwards about the film and the ways in which our government is manipulated by the finance industry among others. We want to thank the Society of Friends for the use of the hall and Renee Woods Stramel for the use of the projector.

MARCH

March to End Dominion's Power Madness

APV along with Greenpeace, Credo Mobile, 350.org, CCAN and VACE are sponsoring an event on March 24th where hundreds of Virginians will come together to tell Dominion Virginia Power to stop blocking renewable energy in our state. Please check out the website (http:www.endpowermadness.com) to sign up and join the APV Team (listed under Central Va teams)!

Voter Suppression

On Thursday, March 15th, APV joined with Va New Majority and other groups to hold a press conference and deliver a petition to the Governor about the voter suppression legislation passed earlier this year. Read APV's statement here.

APV March Salon

At our March salon at Helen's we celebrated our one year anniversary and what we've accomplished in the last year. Thank you to everyone who came out and to everyone who has supported us in our mission. We see good things ahead! (Photo: APV Board Members, left to right, Rhonda Hening, Claire Tuite, Ann Hardy, Darby Lawes, Stephanie Rodriguez & Scott Price)

Remembering Fukushima

On March 11th, 2012 members of APV joined in solidarity with people around the world to remember the one year anniversary of the nuclear disaster at Fukushima and to raise awareness for the need for clean, safe and renewable energy sources in our country. (Photo: William Pickett)

Nuclear Protest at Dominon Headquarters

On Friday, March 9th, 2012 with the anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear disaster approaching and in light of ongoing radioactive tritium leaks at the North Anna Nuclear Plant a protest was held at Dominion's headquarters in downtown Richmond. A coalition of groups including Not On Our Fault Line, People's Alliance for Clean Energy and the Alliance for Progressive Values recently filed a petition with the NRC to expand emergency evacuation zones around US nuclear plants.

APV's statement on the signing of HB 462 into law

We are deeply disappointed with Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell's decision to sign HB462, the so called "ultrasound bill" which mandates an expensive, unnecessary and medically useless procedure before a woman in the Commonwealth can obtain an abortion. APV worked against this bill in the General Assembly and last week we started a petition to let the public tell the Governor what they thought of this legislation. In just three days we received over 1,500 signatures largely through a word of mouth campaign. Here is a copy of our petition. On Wednesday, March 5th, APV board member, Ann Hardy appeared on local Richmond radio to talk about the bill (listen here) and our President Stephanie Rodriguez was interviewed on local television during a demonstration.

Speak Loud with Silence M3 Rally

Photo:Mark Brown

Today Saturday, March 3rd 2012, over a thousand people protested at the Capitol in Richmond against the continuing assault on women’s reproductive rights. Speakers from NOW Virginia, Women’s Strike Force PAC and Alliance for Progressive Values spoke before a well behaved and attentive crowd that included mothers with children, students and many women from the generation that fought for and won many of our fundamental reproductive rights. Ostensibly, the rally was in opposition to HB462, which mandates an unnecessary and medically useless ultrasound for a woman seeking an abortion. APV has worked hard against this poorly contrived piece of legislation that claims to provide women with more information about their pregnancy while in fact acting only to place further barriers between Virginia women and their right to choose. APV’s position on HB462 is spelled out in our petition to the Governor here, which we urge you to sign, but in fact this rally was about the ongoing war on birth control and abortion that has been waged throughout the 2012 session here in Richmond. Numerous bills that would make abortion illegal, make birth control illegal, potentially require police investigations of miscarriages, and end funding for women on Medicaid who’s pregnancies have gone terribly wrong and most be terminated, have come through the legislature, and we have been successful in defeating almost all of them. But the struggle continues. This year we have seen a full court press against the most fundamental of human rights, the right to control one’s own body. Today, as the session winds down, APV members once again stood alongside our brothers and sisters from across the state to implore our elected officials to come to their senses and stop this head long slide aback into the dark ages to paraphrase pro-choice Senator Janet Howell. We are deeply gratified at the large turn out to this peaceful protest and we want to thank the organizers, some of whom are APV members, for their hard work. However the Governor decides to deal with HB462, we want you to know that we will not go away. We are pledged to stand up against those who would try and turn back the clock on reproductive rights, this year, next year and always. Thank you everyone who came out and everyone who was there in spirit.

FEBRUARY

APV's Oyster Roast

Thursday, February 23rd was a big day in Virginia politics as we witnessed the power that strong lobbying coupled with mass protest can have. We succeeded in convincing our friends across the aisle to do away with the so-called personhood bill that had helped make Virginia something of a national punchline. Thursday was also the date of APV's legislative Oyster Roast. It's been a long, hard session, but Thursday night we had a chance to exhale a little and relax with some of our friends and allies from the Virginia General Assembly. Special thanks to Delegates Joe Morrissey, Patrick Hope and Mark Keam and to Senator Creigh Deeds for attending and to all the staffers who came out to raise a glass and eat. Thanks also to Caliente restaurant for making us feel so at home and to their staff. (Photo: Senator Creigh Deeds & Delegate Patrick Hope address the crowd.)

HB 1 "Personhood" Bill

For decades our friends on the right have been railing against “activist” judges who interpret the law as they see fit, and yet the GOP controlled House of Delegates and State Senate are in the process of passing some of the most sweeping and open-ended language in recent memory; language, almost guaranteed to end up being parsed and interpreted in unforeseen ways in the courts of the Commonwealth. House Bill 1, the so called personhood bill, passed the House of Delegates earlier this month by a healthy margin and is now awaiting debate in Committee on the Senate side, but it’s only now starting to get the scrutiny that it deserves and the more people see of it, the more they don’t like it. HB 1 requires that all the laws of the Commonwealth be interpreted to grant fertilized eggs the same rights, privileges, and immunities, as people from the moment of conception on. In doing so it opens a potential Pandora’s Box for confusion and litigation. The bill’s sponsor, anti-choice zealot Delegate Robert Marshall of Prince William, says the bill is only meant to establish a civil cause of action for wrongful death of a fetus stemming from harm to a pregnant woman, but Marshall’s record and his refusal to amend the bill to clarify the many ambiguities the language raises, tends to belie this claim. Instead the bill, which is similar to language introduced and subsequently rejected in other states threatens to outlaw all abortions in the state de facto and make most forms of birth control including the IUD and the Pill illegal if current Supreme Court precedent is ever overturned and it raises serious concerns about the legality of common procedures surrounding in-vitro fertilization. A harsh but not inconceivable reading of the law could be interpreted to require women who miscarry to report the “death” to the local authorities, who, one would assume would have to decide whether or not to investigate if the “death” was spontaneous and of natural causes or was in fact an act of murder. Such silliness we are told would never happen, but the same people who say this are the ones forever warning us of the overreach of government and the chaos caused by radical, “activist” judges bent on making law from the bench. In this case I am rather inclined to take their warnings seriously.

HB1 is a sloppy piece of lawmaking that in a few terse sentences changes the meaning of the legal term person, which appears almost 25,000 times in the Virginia code to include “unborn children” which it defines as existing from the instant of conception. The bill tries to allay some of our many reasonable fears; it acknowledges that Roe and Griswold are the law of the land… for now, and in Sections 6 and 7 it address some other obvious concerns:

§ 6. Nothing in this section shall be interpreted as creating a cause of action against a woman for indirectly harming her unborn child by failing to properly care for herself or by failing to follow any particular program of prenatal care.

§ 7. Nothing in this section shall be interpreted as affecting lawful assisted conception.

Fair enough, a woman who drinks and smokes during her pregnancy or doesn’t stay on her diet can’t go to jail for murder if the pregnancy ends abruptly… but what about a woman who takes birth control? Remember conception happens outside the womb, the fertilized egg then implants (or not) in the womb. Most hormonal birth control prevents the fertilized egg from sticking to the uterine wall. By preventing this, the woman on birth control is “directly” intervening to prevent a pregnancy from continuing. The same could go for IUDs that create an inhospitable environment for the new "person" in the womb. It’s unclear, to say the least if using many of the most common and safe forms of contraception could be seen as a crime by an overzealous judge. Believe me after Citizen’s United, we Progressives have ample evidence of what damage a runaway court can do, and again don’t tell me prosecutors won't bring these cases or judges will throw them out. Sure there won't be many, at first, in the sense that birth control might be illegal and women and their doctors may have to seek contraception outside the law and would thus have to hide their actions, so there may be less murder and more smuggling cases. Who knows. We’re going into uncharted territory. What happens the first time or the fiftieth time that an aggrieved husband claims his estranged wife killed their child with birth control she bought in gasp, Maryland? The party that rails against nuisance lawsuits when they target corporations is all for opening up some of the most intimate decisions a woman or a couple can make to the tender ministration of the Courts. So this is what they mean by small government and tort reform.

And, what about section 7? What happens to all the “people” that routinely get produced as byproducts of fertility treatments? Doctors often implant numerous fertilized eggs, sometimes this results in large numbers of embryos in the womb. Can the mother look forward to a government official being part of any decision she and her family might make about reducing that number? What about freezing embryos, do the fertilized eggs get a legal guardian? Can the couple be charged with child neglect if they fail to pay for the lab work? Is it legal to freeze a person without their consent? What would be the impact on stem cell research? Would a doctor who performs a risky procedure like amniocentesis that results in an unintended abortion be liable for involuntary manslaughter? None of this is addressed in the legislation and to think such cases won't come up is absurd.

This bill along with the raft of other anti-choice bills that have made this session one of the worst in recent memory for women’s rights is part of an overall plan to make abortion and birth control effectively unavailable for women in Virginia. Similar language has failed in public referendums in Colorado and that liberal bastion Mississippi. If put to a popular vote here, I am confident the people of the Commonwealth would reject it out of hand, but the radicals and partisans in the GA and the Governor’s office would like to push this through by mean force. In doing so they are also opening a gaping breach in the law that judges and lawyers and magistrates across Virginia will be asked to plug piecemeal. It’s time to let them know that that is as bad an idea as conferring personhood on a bundle of undifferentiated cells in the first place. On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Alliance for Progressive Values I urge the legislators and the Governor to stop and consider the many unforeseen ramifications of this dangerous bill. Please say NO to HB1.

Speak Loudly With Silence Protest

Photo:Kirsten Gray

On Monday, February 20th, over 1,100 people turned out in one of the largest demonstrations to happen in Richmond in decades, to show their opposition to a series of anti-choice and "anti-women" bills that have been working their way through the Virginia General Assembly. "Speak Loudly With Silence" was the brain child of APV board member Claire Tuite and others. It brought people from across the state together at the Capitol in Richmond to stand as mute witnesses to the ongoing war on women's reproductive rights being waged by the state's Republican majority. On a cold and windy morning state lawmakers walking from the General Assembly building to the nearby Capitol were met by over a thousand silent watchers who lined the walkways between the buildings. It was a powerful and moving message that we sent, that we are watching what they do and that we don't like it. In our conversations with Delegates and Senators later in the day it was clear that message got across loud (or silently) and clear. APV has been involved from the start in the fight to stop restrictive, unnecessary and punitive legislation that would wipe away decades of progress on women's health and reproductive rights here in Virginia. We are very proud of Claire and the work she has done on behalf of women in the Commonwealth and our membership were well represented in the large crowd. Thanks to everyone who came out and to the many organizations and individuals working to turn back the tide of ignorance and fear that threatens to make Virginia one of the most repressive states in the nation on women's rights.

February Salon

On February 13th, the day before Valentine's Day and the next to last day for the General Assembly here in Virginia to pass bills before crossing over to deal with legislation from the other chamber, APV's Monday Salon was pleased to welcome Delegate Patrick Hope of Arlington. Del. Hope came straight from the House floor and spoke and took questions from the audience for an hour. On behalf of the APV board of directors, I want to thank Patrick for coming to see us after such a long and frustrating day. (Photo: Stephanie Rodriguez, Del. Patrick Hope, Darby Lawes & Scott Price)

JANUARY

SB 836: End shackling of pregnant prisoners

Alliance for Progressive Values President Stephanie Rodriguez, board member Claire Tuite and member Kirsten Gray all spoke at a subcommittee hearing this morning on HB836, a bill in the Virginia General Assembly which would have ended the practice of shackling pregnant prisoners during labor. Debate lasted for over an hour with a large group of speakers from across the ideological spectrum testifying in favor of the bill. Sadly the bill failed to report and is dead for this session. The main opposition came from law enforcement and the sheriff’s departments who argued alternately that the practice of shacking did not occur, or if it did it had little effect and must be warranted. Subcommittee Chairman Ben Cline, a prosecutor from Rockbridge, was particularly antagonistic to the bill and claimed that its passage would endanger correction officers, doctors, nurses, the general public and perhaps the state of the union if women prisoners were allowed to deliver their children without manacles. For the record the bill gave wide leeway for corrections officers to use their best judgment in these cases, it simply prohibited the uniform use of shackles which seems to be a prevailing pattern in parts of Virginia. No one wants women, even women in labor, who are a clear and present danger either to themselves or to others, women with histories of violence towards guards or doctors to be unsupervised or totally unrestrained such that others might be hurt, but the fact is that the vast majority of women in prison are nonviolent offenders and there was powerful testimony today that these women would almost certainly be incapable of escape or harming others directly before, during or after delivery.

APV would like to thank Delegate Patrick Hope of Arlington for sponsoring this bill and Delegate Eileen Filler-Corn of Fairfax who cast the only vote in favor of passage. We also want to thank everyone who signed our petition in favor of HB836, you helped us raise awareness about this issue with the general public and legislators and that can only help our cause. APV is involved with the ongoing regulatory process that also seeks to stop this demeaning and inhumane practice. This process is a slow one and can take a year or more, but it is our best shot right now. To read APV’s comments and to post your own on the proposed state regs, go here: http://townhall.virginia.gov/L/entercomment.cfm?stageid=6083

The Washington Post reported on the committee and quoted two APV members.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/va-house-subcommittee-rejects-bill-to-restrict-use-of-restraints-on-pregnant-inmates/2012/02/09/gIQA52UR1Q_story.html

"The shackling of pregnant prisoners is shameful," said Stephanie Rodriguez, president of the Alliance for Progressive Values.

Kirsten Gray of Richmond (APV member) recounted her own childbirth experience and said it was folly to believe women in such pain could be a threat to public safety.

New Year's Fund Drive

Our New Year's online fund-drive was a smashing success. APV had aimed to raise $1.000 in ten dollar increments over the course of the month. With your help we made that number with days to go. THANK YOU all very much for helping us spread a progressive message here in Richmond at the General Assembly and in Congress.

January Salon

Who's My Representative?

Who's My Senator?

In Virginia, Who's My Legislator?

Paid for by RVA Alliance Inc.. RVA Alliance Inc. DBA, APV is a Virginia, non-stock corporation, in the process of filing for status as a 501(c)(4) organization. APV primarily focuses on nonpartisan education and advocacy on important local, state and national issues.