Virginia House Republicans reject marijuana resentencing bill

Virginia House Republicans squashed an effort to give people incarcerated for marijuana-related crimes an automatic resentencing hearing.

State lawmakers voted last year to allow adults to possess small amounts of marijuana. But Democrats said time restraints then kept proposals to include resentencing options for those incarcerated on marijuana convictions on the shelf.

Democratic state Sens. Scott Surovell (Fairfax) and Louise Lucas (Portsmouth) introduced a bill this legislative year that would have allowed those in state custody and on probation for marijuana-related felonies to ask a circuit court judge for a different sentence.

In February, the Virginia Senate passed the legislation on a bipartisan vote. Changes were made to the bill once it reached the House of Delegates, but it ultimately was rejected by Republicans.

On a 12-10 party-line vote Monday, the GOP-controlled Virginia House Appropriations Committee defeated the bill. The measure before the panel had been changed to eliminate the automatic hearing option and only called for a state study on resentencing for marijuana-related offenses.

“The underlying problem is that we decriminalized the possession of marijuana by adults of small amounts in most circumstances last year,” Sen. Surovell told the committee.

“And there is about 428 people who are incarcerated for marijuana distribution who probably would not get that type of sentence under current law.”

Surovell said others have had their charges increased due to a prior marijuana conviction. He told the panel that his original bill did not guarantee any releases, only that a process would be set up for those with nonviolent convictions.

According to a report from the Virginia Department of Corrections, there were 570 people incarcerated for marijuana-related offenses as of Aug. 31, 2021.

“A lot of people were counting on it,” Surovell said Monday, adding that his measure has been lumped in the larger discussion about legalization but that it has “nothing to do with retail sales” but with criminalization.

Del. Delores McQuinn (D-Richmond) said she was surprised by the lack of the bill’s fiscal impact and Del. Terry Austin (R-Botetourt) said he was not certain of the cost and impact of the proposal. After very little debate, the Republicans on the committee voted to defeat the bill.