RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - An effort to give a chance of parole to Virginia inmates who may have received inflated sentences has stalled in the Republican-controlled General Assembly.
The measure backed by Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe's administration sought to aid a group of inmates who potentially were unfairly punished because their juries weren't informed that Virginia had abolished parole in 1995.
The bill had been narrowed to apply only to nonviolent inmates, of which prison officials said there are only about 17. It easily passed the Senate this month but was effectively killed in a House subcommittee Monday.
Brian Moran, secretary of public safety and homeland security, said the bill's failure shows the difficulty in making even limited improvements to Virginia's parole laws.
