Nurse in SE Virginia prison smuggles disassembled breast pump after facing repeated roadblocks to legal pumping. (This article is excerpted from a story by Natalie Kitroeff in the January 6, 2019 New York Times.) CAPRON, Va. — At 3 a.m. on a… Read More ›
State
MEET A VIRGINIAN: Dred Scott
Dred Scott was born into slavery in Southampton, Virginia, about 1795. He unsuccessfully sued for his freedom and that of his wife and their two daughters, in the Dred Scott v. Sandford [Scott’s owner] case of 1857. It is widely viewed… Read More ›
Virginia’s Judiciary Needs Diversity
By Del. Jennifer Carroll-Foy Reposted from the December 14, 2018, issue of Blue Virginia. By the end of the 2018 Virginia General Assembly legislative session, a budget was passed to fully fund every unfilled judicial seat in the state of… Read More ›
Individual Rights, Freedom, and Society
One of the most difficult paths to navigate in governing is that of balancing individual rights and freedom with that of societal requirements. Last month [November4; Fear Rules, Health Suffers], VoxFairfax offered comment on the issue of mandatory vaccination. Recently, an… Read More ›
MEET A VIRGINIAN: Virginia Dare
Child Becomes Alt-Right Icon Born in 1587 in the Roanoke Colony in what is now North Carolina, Virginia Dare was the first English child born in a New World English overseas possession; she was named after the territory of Virginia. What became of Virginia and the other colonists remains… Read More ›
To Be or Not To Be—Political
SCOTUS employs the dodge of “political question” when it decides not to decide an issue presented to it. Of late, the murky mask has been called into play on several occasions involving voting rights. But SCOTUS will decide on voting… Read More ›
Labor’s Love Lost in Last Place in Virginia
New data have emerged demonstrating what most observers of the Virginia economic and political scene have always known: the Commonwealth is unfriendly to organized labor in particular and to working families more generally. According to the Census Bureau, Virginia’s population… Read More ›
Morality as Voting Qualification
It must be admitted that the right wing often crafts arguments that are persuasive, however contrary to common sense or democratic values. In the quiet of Falls Church, an organization called the Center for Equal Opportunity [CEO] generates propaganda for… Read More ›
One Person, One Vote, in Congressional Elections
For a very brief two years, 1933–35, Virginia was gerrymander-free, as its nine congressional representatives were elected at large, i.e., by the entire voting population of the Commonwealth, not from particular districts. In addition, since passage of the 17th amendment in… Read More ›