Virginian’s Who Pay Their Debt To Society Need Second Chance

Virginia Governor Ralph Northam says “building a stronger, fairer, and more inclusive Commonwealth means giving Virginans who have paid their debt to society a second chance.” Those comments come from the Governor after announcing Lethia Hammonds as Vice Chairman of the Virginia Parole Board. The Governor also unveiled several new initiatives designed to streamline the clemency process. Together with the appointment of Hammonds, and taking concrete steps will bolster efforts to create a more equitable and accessible clemency process and drastically reduce the backlog of pardon requests. To date, Governor Northam has granted nearly 300 pardons, more than any previous Virginia Governor in recent history , The Governor is also on track to grant more pardons than all previous governors combined.