Goad (Legal Expert)

I'm live in Studio A at @wrir973fm.bsky.social
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Just an idea of how hard I was resting my eyes. Rare photo of me with my mouth closed.

Senator Jennifer Carroll Foy thinks this is a clean up bill to deal laws with technical violations while nearly the rest of the committee kills it and sends it to the Crime Commission for a study. Meeting adjourned.

HB 1413 from Delegate Schmidt would make it so probation officers can't wait past 14 days to hit someone with a technical violation. Senator Surovell infers that it would make POs issue more violations.

Final bills of the year HB 1500 from Delegate Charlie Schmidt that allows out of state corporations to be subpoenaed for evidence in civil suits via mail or email. Passes unanimously

HB 148 is back and Democrats weren't content with preservation of evidence for civil suit. Fails 8-7 and Senator Creigh Deeds joins with Republicans to keep it alive.
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HB 172 from Delegate Leslie Mehta would allow a defendant the right to question potential jurors about the range of potential punishments. Also lets defendant withdraw from request to jury, even after guilty, to be sentenced by judge. Passes 8-7.

I am struggling to stay awake, Senator Mark Peake caught me resting my eyes.

Williamsburg and James City Commonwealth Attorney Nate Green speaks against the bill. Senator Surovell asks if anyone is being prosecuted for crimes since he's at every meeting. Green says there are some "shalls" in the code for jobs done by other departments. Senator Perry says he shall prosecute.

Slowly working our way through this meeting. HB 1299 from Delegate Karrie Delaney would deal with the word "shall" in regards to recent court cases. Committee moves to send the bill to a commission to figure out what to do instead explain the word "shall."

We are going back to half hour long discussions on bills. Two bills from Delegate Marcus nearly put me to sleep. One is carried over and I don't care about the second.

After further protecting law enforcement from lawsuits, the HB 273 is passed with a party line vote.

Back on the highway to the Helmer Zone. HB 273 would require law enforcement to render aid to a person injured or life threatening condition. Law enforcement is still immune from civil suits unless gross neglect or willful misconduct.

Judge Sonya Sacks being pulled for consideration for recall as a retired judge is different from the House.

Firsr order of business, is the judges. Same thing as the House meeting where they can't agree on the judges in Chesterfield and they remove retired judges Cullen, Southall, and Sacks.
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Hello fellow legal experts. I am at the Virginia Capitol for the final Courts of Justice meeting of 2026. Let's end this and lift my curse to be here every Monday morning.

On the other side of the street, there's a Catholic wedding and girls dressed like Belle are seeing Beauty and the Beast the Musical at the Altria Theater.

Happening now in Richmond, protesters led by Virginia PSL are gathered at Monroe Park to protest the war in Iran.

On my walk home, I spotted four protesters on Broad and Belvedere.

The House Courts of Justice are certifying judges after the joint meeting. They are pulling the Chesterfield candidates until settled with candidates. Theycommittee is at ease and then decides to pull Judge Southall and Cullen out of the list of judges who are certified.

The last 3 candidates are for Chesterfield Juvenile Court and they are Leslie Haley, Lisa, Piper, and Terrica Taylor. Meeting adjourned.

3 candidates for the General District are Ericka Battle, Tiffany Booker, and Melissa Hoy are given a chance to address the committee and I couldn't tell you which direction this committee is heading.

Final candidate for Chesterfield Circuit Court is Richmond General District Judge Victoria Pearson and introduced by Delegate Charlie Schmidt. Yes, judges can move jurisdiction for promotion. Judge Pearson worked for the Virginia Attorney General during Unite the Right.

Another candidate to elevate from General District to Circuit Court is Judge Shajuan Mason House has amazingly a law degree and then 3 post graduate degrees. Judge House and Judge Hairston were both introduced by Senator Mike Jones.

Finally making it to the last nine of the candidates of the day. All 9 are from Chesterfield County but there are only 5 spots available. Judge Curtis Hairston is the first and he hopes to be elevated to circuit court. Hairston had worked with former Congressman McEachin.

Well things have been really smooth since the first 5 judges everyone since then has been well received by this joint committee meeting. Looks like this body is happy with the candidates today.

Gilbert is also asked about his views on the prison pipeline and brings up his work as a criminal defense lawyer and says that he is a different person than his voting record would suggest.

Delegate Marcus Simon holds up a picture of Gilbert and asks what he can do about the grumpy face. Glad everyone is having fun today.

Gilbert is seeking the position of General District Judge in the Shenandoah area. In reference to his brief time as a federal prosecutor, Gilbert says there was a different expectation in his job. Surovell says he lasted 3 Scaramucci.

Entering the arena, former Speaker of the House of Delegates, Todd Gilbert.