I curated a (mostly) exhaustive list of Juneteenth celebrations across the country. Chances are there’s one near you!

Worth noting: the only dissent in this case was from Clarence Thomas. Hopefully our governor keeps this in mind before she hands her veto pen to the Va. Assoc. of Commonwealth’s Attorneys again next year.

In a concurring opinion today, Justice Gorsuch specifically mentions the governor's recent veto of a @justicefwdva.bsky.social / @salimforva.bsky.social bill to ban 4th Amendment plea waivers. Gorsuch suggests 4A waivers may be unconstitutional, an argument VA's public defenders have made for years.

Thank you to @boltsmag.org and @nobleingram.bsky.social and @taniel.bsky.social for featuring “Your Data Will Be Used Against You.” Q&A on police surveillance — one of the most important issues of our day. boltsmag.org/everything-e...

VA’s relationship with capital punishment spanned over 4 centuries before it was abolished. We celebrated 5yrs since the state became the first in the South to end it, with some of the wonderful people at Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty who worked in anonymity advocating against it.

For comparison: Faith leaders' account of the recent incident where DHS fired pepper balls at the feet of demonstrators (including Sen. Andy Kim) vs. DHS' account of the same event.

The veto statement says this bill “would effectively create a new legal standard applicable to just one criminal charge for a specific group of people.” However, VA law already provides similar narrowly tailored affirmative defenses for specific groups facing specific charges.

A new study has found that the National Guard's presence in Washington, D.C. had no effect on violent crime in the city. The Guard has been deployed since last August as part of a federal task force to fight crime, and their numbers are set to double in the coming weeks. n.pr/3PWDxqK

Jail and prison are incredibly unsafe. There is no safe jail. The important thing to keep in mind when reading these stories is that the answer is always to let people be free (not to hire more doctors). apnews.com/article/ice-...

Monday we addressed Governor @abigailspanberger.bsky.social veto of bills to protect individuals with autism, mental illness, dementia, and intellectual and developmental disabilities, along with other statewide advocates for this vulnerable group: justiceforwardva.com/blog/2026/6/...

“Effectively, that person has just disappeared while in the custody of the US government.” Immigrants are being sent all over the country, and often families and attorneys don’t know where they are.

Join us in celebrating our founder @bradleyrhaywood.bsky.social on the General Assembly’s commendation of his deep commitment to system-change advocacy, and his legacy of service. We salute you! You can read Virginia House Resolution 893 here: justiceforwardva.com/blog/2026/5/... #VALeg

The plan will essentially transform school buses into roaming surveillance vehicles. www.404media.co/buspatrol-pu...

New: Regretful cities are literally covering their Flock cameras with black trash bags because they cannot figure out how to immediately exit their surveillance contracts or get the cameras taken down: www.404media.co/cities-are-c...

NEW: “Immigration authorities have detained a pregnant woman and her 4-year-old son at Washington Dulles International Airport for over a week,” per her lawyers. “CBP is holding [Anabella] Gyasi and her son in a windowless holding room, according to the ACLU.”

THREAD. I received word that some liberal nonprofits and political consultants are trying to work with establishment Democrats on a political "messaging strategy" to expand surveillance, militarized policing, immigration detention, and overall imprisonment with re-branded language.

Civilian oversight of police in Virginia is deeply broken. If we can’t get this right in Charlottesville, what are we doing? The system is stacked to avoid accountability. We need transparency of cop credibility in court and elimination of qualified immunity. www.cvilletomorrow.org/charlottesvi...

When even the agency tasked with preventing terrorism calls out your posts for being racist...

The historic Alfred Street Baptist Church announced it would fund the Black student government whose funding was cut at Mizzou over DEI restrictions “We take care of our own people,” said Rev. Dr. Howard-John Wesley.

Some straight talk from @katrinacallsen.com:

BREAKING: VA Gov Abigail Spanberger just vetoed a bill that would ban ICE from making warrantless arrests inside of courthouses. VA Dems have the House, the Senate, and the Governorship. They have all the power and still under a Corporate Centrist Democrat, align with fascist ideology.

Never met a person who survived VA’s Red Onion or Wallens Ridge Supermax prisons that didn’t detail the abuse, racism, and grave human rights violations happening there. It’s not a secret and it’s been ongoing for decades. Shame. www.virginiascope.com/spanberger-v...

“The CannaJustice Coalition, which includes Marijuana Justice, RISE for Youth, Justice Forward VA, & Virginia Student Power Network, called the veto “profoundly disappointing” & accused the admin of extending confusion around cannabis policy instead of moving toward a safer & more equitable system.”

HB26 has FINALLY been signed into law! Virginians serving time for marijuana offenses no longer treated as crimes now have a path home. Years of hard work from former patrons and advocates, but we got the job done!

"But license plate readers aren’t the only tool Flock wants to deploy on our streets. Now, Roanoke is considering expanding its contract with Flock for a system of acoustic sensors that will record human voices."

every generation inherits a world they didn’t choose or create, yes, but I really can’t believe we’re giving today’s children the largest expansion of state and corporate surveillance in human history and a future where you maybe won’t ever know what it’s like not to be watched

The opposite of fascism is not moderation.

"Nearly every car driving onto or leaving Norfolk State University passes by a solar-powered camera mounted near campus entry and exit points."

"The VA General Assembly has rejected expanding ALPR authority to state highway rights-of-way... Rather than seeking that authorization, Flock Safety & Elkton PD documented a strategy to place cameras on private property... same surveillance... zero legislative oversight, no VDOT permit required."

Terrific piece by Zach of Rockingham County, Va., documenting how his town started surveilling him and his neighbors with zero public discussion or input. This is happening across the country, and people like Zach are pushing back because it's wrong. augustafreepress.com/news/surveil...

ICE keeps detaining the same US citizen again, and again, and again. He’s fighting back.

Let's catch up on four recent successes against #Flock mass surveillance... 🧵

Your base voters are not your employees and your unpaid comm staffers

Residents of an Atlanta suburb learned that Flock had been accessing cameras in the town—including in a children's gymnastics room—to demonstrate the company’s surveillance technology to police departments around the country. The city renewed the contract anyway. www.404media.co/city-learns-...

for @thenation.com i wrote about how everyone hates Flock cameras ❤️ www.thenation.com/article/acti...

"The State of Mass Surveillance in Harrisonburg & the Commonwealth" A great presentation by @rpogge.bsky.social, executive director of @justicefwdva.bsky.social ✅ "It is impossible to overstate how grim and harmful mass #surveillance is” 💯 📄 www.dnronline.com/news/public_... #deflock #alpr

this is the FINAL day for this call for questions. you can ask a question to @profferguson.bsky.social as a reply below, or on our form! boltsmag.org/how-police-t...

‘They make us targets’ Residents call for city council to ‘De-Flock’ Harrisonburg

Last week, Virginia’s governor vetoed several criminal justice reforms, including one that would have expanded deferred sentencing in criminal cases and another that would have blocked felony charges for having trace amounts of controlled substances.

The General Assembly reconvenes at 12PM tomorrow, 4/22 to review the Gov’s actions on legislation passed during the 2026 Session. We’re closely watching our bills to Protect People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (ID/DD) and Mental Health Disorders HB246/SB335…

NEW: Flight data reveals that the LAPD's "Drone as First Responder" program—sold to the public as a public safety measure—is in fact being used to spy on anti-ICE/anti-Trump protests in Los Angeles. theintercept.com/2026/04/20/l...

Thoroughly researched and deeply alarming presenation by @justicefwdva.bsky.social last night. Thank you! We all learned so much. Please sign up to help & also sign up for Natl Wk of Action Against ALPRs #Harrisonburg #virginia

"Nearly two dozen were held in custody for more than 20 days...Teens who were detained alone were sent to Christian youth shelters in Michigan, which made it hard for their families to find them. And nearly half of the children detained have since left the country." sahanjournal.com/immigration/...

Tomorrow night--- Dinner provided, rsvp at link below and bring a friend! @justicefwdva.bsky.social will help provide context to Harrisonburg community concerns about Flock #surveillance cameras and data security. @rockdemsva.bsky.social #harrisonburg

People who agree to a Fourth Amendment waiver give up protections against unreasonable searches and seizures, allowing police to search a person or their home at any time over years-long periods.

As an answer to the classic “What would Jesus do?” question, “start robot wars” would be an unconventional response, to put it mildly. And yet, here we are.

NEWS: Virginia's governor vetoed a bill late last night that'd have banned prosecutors from pressuring Virginians into waiving their constitutional rights. That's right, local prosecutors often get defendants to sign away Fourth Amendment protections to get a plea — for years.