Cuccinelli, Nolan, Norquist and Reddy: Smart reforms for Virginia's justice system

Justice and the guarantee of safety are basic duties of government. We all deserve to live in safe neighborhoods and walk on safe streets. In Virginia, there are three actions that can be taken in the short run to dramatically improve our current justice system.

First, Virginians should hold the government accountable for keeping us safe and spending our tax dollars wisely. Unfortunately, it is currently legal under Virginia law for the government to seize someone’s property without convicting that person of a crime. Of course, no one has the right to profit from crime. But as individuals who believe in a limited government, it is deeply troubling that the state can take private property on the mere suspicion that it has been involved in illegal activity and the owner must then prove the property’s innocence to reclaim it.

Some in law enforcement (and we are all supporters of law enforcement) claim that this process, known as civil asset forfeiture, is “not a problem in the commonwealth.” We disagree. The system creates a profit incentive for government — and there is a lot of money on the table.

The state has seized more than $70 million in assets between 2006 and 2015. Virginia agencies have also received more than $100 million in “equitable sharing” payments from the federal government from 2004 to 2014.

Equitable sharing — a law-enforcement cooperation statute — allows state agencies to use federal law to skirt asset forfeiture restrictions. Because of this, a recent national report by the Institute for Justice gave Virginia a D- for its civil forfeiture laws, one of the worst grades in the country. Assets should generally not be seized until a defendant is actually convicted of a crime.

Second, it is time to address the ballooning cost of incarceration. In 1995, Virginia largely abolished parole, so more people now spend more time in Virginia prisons, thereby costing taxpayers more money. Furthermore, because offenders do not have a strong period of supervision and support when re-entering society, they are a significant risk to reoffend. Virginia taxpayers now spend more than $1 billion per year on incarceration, but there is little evidence that this increased level of imprisonment is making us safer. Longer sentences do not necessarily deter crimes or make felons less likely to reoffend. We need to be more particular (and frugal) — identifying where longer sentences work and where they don’t, and adjust accordingly.

There are steps we can take to improve public safety. For example, too many children in our state grow up in broken homes — often without a father. Other states have found ways to hold offenders, often men, accountable for their crimes while keeping them in their communities, where they can support their families and play a role in their children’s lives. By using rigorous drug testing and rehabilitation programs and forcing offenders to pay restitution, society can hold offenders accountable while also promoting family unity. Broken homes are the single biggest predictor of the potential for a child to turn to a life of crime. Strengthening families makes us all safer.

Finally, it is important to ensure that the charge and punishment actually fit the crime. Since 1980, a theft of $200 or more in Virginia is a felony offense, rather than a misdemeanor. This felony larceny threshold of $200 is the lowest in the nation. Since 1993, famously tough-on-crime Texas has had a felony threshold set at $1,500, and it increased that threshold to $2,500 in 2015.

Virginia, meanwhile, unsurprisingly locked up more youths for a primary conviction of larceny than for any other offense in 2014. The consequences of these felony convictions reverberate for years. A felony conviction frequently makes it much more difficult to find legal employment, making it much harder to pull one’s life back together. Virginia needs to raise its felony threshold — we suggest $1,000.

Crime and punishment are unfortunate but ever-present elements of any society. In order for us all to enjoy the blessings of liberty, we need more justice on our streets and we need more virtue in our communities. Virginians have an opportunity to hold our government accountable for its actions and spending and to make commonsense changes that deter crime effectively. Through smart reforms, strong families, and a commitment to making our founding principles a reality, we can all enjoy a safer, more just commonwealth.