RichmondLiberty.org

GA220107.odt -- Mon 22 Jan 07

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I'm no longer listing the specific URL for details on each bill discussed
here. See the “DETAILS” note at the end of this report for details of
how to retrieve more information; tell me if this is unclear to you. Thanks.
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The Senate Courts of Justice Committee met at nine this morning,
but none of the bills I was interested in came up for consideration
during the meeting.

The House Courts of Justice Committee met shortly before three
this afternoon. The agenda is unexpectedly short ­ four hours scheduled
rather than seven or so. We discovered why just after the meeting began:
a large number of bills have been consolidated with others. The list was
recited too quickly to copy; with luck, nothing will slip by.

HB1665 (Marshall) would make it a crime to force or coerce a woman to
have an abortion. This substitute has the objectionable language and
concepts from the original bill removed. After a technical amendment,
the bill was approved 11-5, and will go to the Appropriations Committee.

HB2279 (Watts) rewrites the law dealing with sexual offenses against
children, increasing some penalties and attempting to make the law easier
to understand and enforce. The Committee has decided to attempt to get
the bill through Appropriations as it is now, although it still needs
more work from this Committee.

HB2337 (Gilbert) would have made it felony child abuse for a pregnant
woman to use any Schedule I or II controlled substance either without a
prescription, or in quantities greater than prescribed, and would have
made blood content evidence of the crime. The bill was passed by for the
day in an earlier meeting (Gilbert is having medical problems), but only
at the very end of today's meeting was it officially tabled.

HB2361 (Putney) removes the present limit on compensation of
court-appointed attorneys. (There is a companion bill being approved in
the Senate.) This should change Virginia's ranking as among the very
worst in the nation for providing counsel for people who can't afford
them. Reported overwhelmingly.

HB2749 (Hurt) is the child pornography, and sex offender registration
requirements bill. The substitute version does fix most of the problems
were raised by the original version, and it also incorporated the change
in email-reporting that I suggested at the subcommittee meeting.
Unfortunately, it still has the the provision that “possessing”
child-porn can be as inadvertent as having viewed an image online even
once, and then not having cleared that image from your computer's cache.
(I never have any confidence in the idea that the system will not
prosecute trivial cases.) It also retains the provision that a teenager
who has been in a sexual relationship for several years with a partner
just a year ­ or a few days ­ younger becomes guilty of a felony if the
older teen, a day after turning eighteen, emails the younger partner and
suggests the sort of special sex that Virginia still outlaws. It turns
out that this is a provision of current law, and is merely re-enacted in
this bill. The revised substitute bill was reported.

HB2532 (Landes) addresses unintentionally causing a miscarriage or
stillbirth. Again, this is a substitute bill, and the new version
removes the references to “manslaughter”. Since this was the main
objection to the bill, it was reported.

HB2622 (Reid) is another substitute bill. It makes it illegal to move,
conceal, or hide illegal aliens. The original bill was far broader; this
one removes much objectionable language, and limits its application to
acts done as part of a “commercial enterprise and with intent to violate
the immigration laws”. Approved.

HB2648 (SC Jones) would specifically include the pregnant woman in the
law against causing an abortion or miscarriage. I pointed out some
problems with it in subcommittee: it would seem to outlaw some legal
forms of birth control, and it would certainly make it a crime to use
some traditional abortifacient herbs. The bill was amended to meet some
of the objections, though it still covers herbs. Approved by the
Committee.

HB2964 (Bell) makes it illegal to enter someone else's vehicle without
permission. The provision in the original bill that would have made a
third offense a felony was removed before it was approved.

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DETAILS:
To see the summary, text, status, estimated cost, votes, or other
details on any bill, go to:
. Click on:
“Bills & Resolutions ­ status of individual bills and related
information”.
At the text-entry block, enter the bill and type just as I have it listed
above. (Use “SB921”, not “S.B. 921”, for example.)

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REMINDER:
and
These are the two websites where you can access nearly anything
you want to know about practically anything related to the General
Assembly. Use them!
end

- - Roy B. Scherer