Good morning, everyone! I hope that you all had a great weekend. Unfortunately, I have some bad news for you. The efforts to change the laws in Virginia to abolish juvenile life without parole has stalled. For reasons unknown, Senator Marsden will not be submitting his bill this legislative session. However, I understand that Tim Hugo is sympathetic to our position. The proposed legislation would not be an automatic release for anyone. All it does is to allow a person convicted of a crime as a juvenile to apply for parole after having served 25 years of a life sentence. The legislation was supported by Virginia's Attorney General and by the Commonwealth's Attorney Association. The legislation had two purposes. The first was to prevent the victims of crime and their families from being dragged back into court for resentencing hearings to relive some of the worst moments of their lives. I was at one of these resentencing hearings and I am thankful that the only surviving family member of the victim was too sick to honor the subpoena. It is unconscionable to reopen old and well healed wounds when this legislation would have prevented that from happening. The second purpose is that children really are different. They are emotionally immature and they act like it with little thought given to the consequences of their actions or anticipation of the likely outcomes. For many such juveniles, prison is the only structure that they have ever known. For others, like Kelly, it was a first offense that ended their freedom forever. How is it wrong to go back and take a look at these kids after 25 years of incarceration to see if their heart has truly changed? Because if it has, then what purpose does it serve to keep them locked up until the day that they die? It is foolish and wasteful to continue the practice of juvenile life without parole. And by waste, I mean both in human potential and in real dollars. It costs tens of millions to keep these kids behind bars. I ask you to write Tim Hugo and ask him to take up the cause. A cause steeped in common sense, forgiveness, and wisdom. He can be reached here: DelTHugo@house.virginia.gov Thank you for taking the time out of your day to write. It really does mean a lot to Kelly Anne and will help many more than just her. God bless, Bill