Research & Publications

TRAP laws are one of the regulatory initiatives the purpose of which is to eliminate all access to legal abortions by making it physically or economically impossible for doctors and clinics to provide these services. Learn more about Virginia's use of TRAP to outlaw abortion.

This report examines local redistricting in Virginia from the viewpoint of racial fairness. You will find inside a brief history of redistricting in Virginia over the last thirty years and tips on how you can have an impact on redistricting today.

How the Supreme Court (with help from the Fourth Circuit) erected a formidable barrier to certain civil rights litigation

If we are to maintain a system of capital punishment, it is time for Virginia to carefully examine that system to assure that all findings of guilt and punishment are accurate, are as just as possible, and are consistent across the Commonwealth.

This manual explains key provisions of the PATRIOT Act for those who want to understand it better and especially for those who want to use that knowledge to change it.

The most important lesson in this report – and it comes through loud and clear– is that Virginia’s criminal justice system is crippled by procedures that fail to ensure a reliable determination of guilt or innocence.

We began this study with the idea of analyzing government documents to shed light on a health care institution that we only knew through anecdotes. What we discovered was that bad attitudes, bad laws and bad policies make getting to the bottom of health care in prison an arduous and impossible task.

Every voter has a vital stake in redistricting because it determines the composition of districts that elect public officials at every level of government. This report examines local redistricting in Virginia from the viewpoint of racial fairness.

This report casts a dark shadow over Virginia, a shadow that will not be dispelled so long as individuals are charged, tried, and executed under the existing system for administering the death penalty here. It is time to do something about that.