Laila Kirkpatrick, Staff Writer
A bill allowing an inmate to ask a judge to reduce their jail time after they have served decades has cleared the House of Delegates on Saturday. The debate over the so-called Second Look Act lasted more than two hours. House Democrats led by Luke Clippinger, Judiciary Committee Chair, beat back wave after wave of American amendments before the bill passed. The bill if it passes in the Senate would allow a limited number of people to “let some inmates ask a judge to reduce their jail time after they have served decades” already. Under the current proposal, only a few people would be eligible. The law would also only apply to people who were convicted of a crime they committed between the ages of 18 and 25 and would not be available to anyone who was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. Those who petitioned would also have to wait at least five years between petitions if they were turned down.
Clippinger acknowledged that for those who have lost loved ones, no amount of time in prison brings closure saying, “Let’s be clear, the victims will absolutely agree it will never be enough because they’ve lost their loved one, because they’ve lost the person they’re closest to, because they are feeling unlimited pain, and they want someone else to feel that pain,” Clippinger said. “And so now we look at our criminal justice system to try to make them completely whole, and the truth is, the uncomfortable truth is, we never, ever can do that,” Clippinger said that around 350 people would be eligible currently.
