Del. Sally Hudson wants more reform measures as Virginia gears to legalize simple possession of marijuana

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - Conversations about marijuana legalization are growing louder less than two months until legalization begins in the commonwealth.

At a virtual town hall hosted by Home to Hope, Del. Sally Hudson, a Democrat who represents Charlottesville and Albemarle County, said while she supported and voted for the bill set to take place in July, there are some shortcomings. She’s planning to push for more reform in upcoming sessions.

“There is something that didn’t get done in that bill, which is resentencing for all of the folks who are currently behind bars for a crime that is about to disappear,” Del. Hudson said. “I think that is one of the biggest losses in the bill that we got across the finish line.”

The criminal justice reform measures that Virginia Democrats passed, and Gov. Ralph Northam signed, do include automatic expungements of certain misdemeanors.

“Things like possession of marijuana, possession with intent to distribute - the misdemeanor - a shoplifting, petty larceny, trespassing, disorderly conduct, underage possession of alcohol, all of these are going to be eligible for automatic expungement,” said Rob Pogenklass, an attorney with the Legal Aid Justice Center.

Pogenklass says automatic expungement is important because many people never go through the petition process. During Wednesday’s town hall, Del. Hudson explained why she wants that process to speed up. Right now it’s slated to begin in 2025 to give state police and court systems time to update.

“In the year of our lord 2021, it should not take 4 years to get this done,” she said. “We let our court system use technology as the excuse for dragging their feet.”

Del. Don Scott, a fellow Democrat, represents the city of Portsmouth. He was also on the panel and says these reforms can continue, but it relies on Virginians electing Democrats at the ballot box.

“You might see some infighting, you might see some Democrat-on-Democrat crime,” he said. “But I’m just telling you, if we lose the house, everything we’ve done will go backwards.”

Hudson also wants to move toward the decriminalization of other substances. She introduced a bill this past session to make the simple possession of certain narcotics a misdemeanor rather than a felony, but it failed.

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