Good morning, everyone! I hope that you all had a great weekend and managed to spend some time with the people that you love. For the first time in twenty-three years, we find ourselves in a position to change Kelly Anne's stars. The trouble with handing a kid a life without parole sentence is that you rob them of all hope. Never again will they be free, never again will they be able to join their family. Never again will they have any opportunity to live a normal life. To me, that is a sin to do that to a child as young as 14 in Virginia. From the 15-year-old that was offered a 14 year sentence, refused it, and was sentenced to multiple life terms plus over 100 years to Kelly Anne that wasn't even present for the crime and by the statements of her co-defendant never wanted the victim to be seriously hurt, much less killed, there are people in prison who deserve a second chance. It is absurd to expect a child to remain forever fixed in time at the exact moment of their offense. While that is pretty much the case for thirty year old, kids are different and there is a mountain of evidence to back that statement up. What's more, none of this research is new. We have known this for decades, and that is why the U.S. Supreme Court arrived at their conclusions on Miller and Graham and Virginia's Jones decision will prove a faulty shield. In Jones, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled that the Commonwealth does not have mandatory life without parole and therefore Virginia is immune to the SCOTUS rulings. However, none of the judges in the Norfolk circuit court ever believed that they had that authority and that means that there was no other possible sentence that could be given in the Norfolk circuit and if you don't believe that, read the transcript of the Majeed resentencing and see it for yourself. I believe that Norfolk is not unique in this regard and that is the case for the majority of Virginia. Meaning that Jones is essentially a house of cards for cases prior to that decision. Once Jones is overturned, the Commonwealth will be dragged back into the courtroom with the victims and their families for resentencing hearings that no one with a heart wants to happen and SB890 can prevent that. The bill is not a "25 and done" bill. The proposed law expects a juvenile offender to serve 25 years and the Commonwealth will take another look at the offender and see where that person is at. If the juvenile offender has demonstrated maturity and a true change of character, he can earn parole. If not, he remains in prison. That is the preferred solution to the problem because it negates the Federal courts dictating a solution, protects the victims and their families, and offers a second chance to those that deserve it. Now, we just have to convince the House to pass it. Therefore, we are returning to the Speaker of the House, Delegate Kirk Cox. Delegate Cox is likely to support SB890 should it come to the floor. Now that a Republican senator has taken the lead on that bill, that is more likely to happen than ever before. I ask you to use the above arguments for SB890 with the Speaker to convince him that Senator Wagner's bill is the way to go. Try to use Senator Wagner's name in connection with his bill, mention that he is a Republican, and ask him to support the measure in the House. You can contact the Speaker here: DelKCox@house.virginia.gov I realize that this has been a long post and I thank you for taking the time to read this far and for your support of Kelly Anne. God bless, Bill