{"id":2545251,"date":"2026-01-20T16:40:02","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T21:40:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/virginia-dems-want-more-rapists-and-murderers-on-the-streets\/"},"modified":"2026-01-20T16:42:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T21:42:07","slug":"virginia-dems-want-more-rapists-and-murderers-on-the-streets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/virginia-dems-want-more-rapists-and-murderers-on-the-streets\/","title":{"rendered":"Virginia Dems Want More Rapists And Murderers On The Streets"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fvirginia-dems-want-more-rapists-and-murderers-on-the-streets%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2545251&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>An opinion piece in The Federalist by Breccan F. Thies argues that newly empowered Virginia Democrats &#8211; with Gov. Abigail Spanberger now in office and control of the General Assembly &#8211; are pushing legislation that would significantly roll back mandatory minimum sentences for violent crimes. The bill by Delegate Rae Cousins (HB863) would remove five- and 15-year mandatory minimums for certain child\u2011pornography offenses involving minors under 15, eliminate a <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >25\u2011year mandatory minimum<\/a> for rape, and reduce firearm\u2011enhanced mandatory terms (including some offenses currently carrying a three\u2011year minimum) to much lighter penalties. The article frames these changes alongside other Democratic proposals (gun restrictions, election changes, limits on courtroom electronic recordings) and accuses the party&#8217;s leaders of making the state less safe; it also references a controversial allegation about Attorney General Jay Jones. The author contends that, given the political makeup, a veto by Spanberger is unlikely and that these measures would make Virginia more dangerous.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-body body-md bdr-top-black pt-30\">\n<div class=\"row justify-content-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12\">\n<figure class=\"article-thumbnail mb-30 mb-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-thumbnail-caption d-flex align-items-center justify-content-md-end label-xs mt-15\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-camera me-10\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Image Credit<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=z2ue2kCsXTk\">C-SPAN \/ YouTube<\/a>       <\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-share text-center article-share-simple\">\n<h5 class=\"label-sm mb-10\">Share<\/h5>\n<ul class=\"article-share-list list-unstyled m-0 p-0\">\n<li class=\"article-share-facebook m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/01\/20\/virginia-democrats-want-more-rapists-and-murderers-on-the-streets\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-facebook\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Facebook<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-twitter m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=Virginia%20Democrats%20Want%20More%20Rapists%20And%20Murderers%20On%20The%20Streets&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/01\/20\/virginia-democrats-want-more-rapists-and-murderers-on-the-streets\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Twitter<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-truth-social m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/share?title=Virginia%20Democrats%20Want%20More%20Rapists%20And%20Murderers%20On%20The%20Streets&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/01\/20\/virginia-democrats-want-more-rapists-and-murderers-on-the-streets\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" fill=\"currentColor\" style=\"width:36px;height:auto;\" viewbox=\"0 0 92 93\"><path d=\"M69.444 55.716H56.772v10.37h12.672zM64.487 37.795V27.32H38.666v38.664h13.18v-28.19zM21.05 27.321h12.653v10.471H21.051z\" https:><\/path><\/svg>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Truth Social<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-link m-0\">       <button data-clipboard-text=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/01\/20\/virginia-democrats-want-more-rapists-and-murderers-on-the-streets\/\" data-tooltip-content=\"Copied!\" class=\"clip tooltip\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-link-variant\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Copy Article Link<\/span>       <\/button>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\">       <a href=\"mailto:?subject=Virginia%20Democrats%20Want%20More%20Rapists%20And%20Murderers%20On%20The%20Streets&amp;body=%20https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/01\/20\/virginia-democrats-want-more-rapists-and-murderers-on-the-streets\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-email\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article via Email<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\"><span class=\"printfriendly pf-button  pf-alignleft\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\" rel=\"nofollow\" onclick=\"window.print(); return false;\" title=\"Printer Friendly, PDF &amp; Email\"><span id=\"printfriendly-text2\" class=\"pf-button-text\"><i class=\"mdi mdi-printer\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<p>In a move that is not a shock to anyone except for those who were psyopped into believing Gov. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., was a &ldquo;moderate,&rdquo; Democrats are poised to make life a little easier for rapists and murderers.<\/p>\n<p>Spanberger was sworn into office on Saturday, and radical Democrats control both houses of Virginia&rsquo;s General Assembly. Legislative <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/01\/13\/virginia-democrats-move-to-establish-limitless-abortion-ban-guns-and-gerrymander-districts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">proposals<\/a> have been streaming in, many of which aim to ban guns, <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/01\/20\/extending-mail-ballots-banning-hand-counts-and-3-other-radical-election-changes-va-dems-have-planned\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">rig elections<\/a>, disenfranchise Virginians, kill unborn babies, and <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/01\/20\/taxing-lawnmowers-gym-passes-and-doordash-proves-dems-actually-hate-affordability\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">tax<\/a> just about everything under the sun.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2 d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1915824065\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1463670073398-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>But one <a href=\"https:\/\/lis.virginia.gov\/bill-details\/20261\/HB863\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">proposal<\/a>, championed by Democrat Delegate Rae Cousins, would <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/dc-council-reduces-criminal-penalties-amid-violent-crime-wave\/\" title=\"DC Council Reduces Criminal Penalties Amid Violent Crime Wave\">eliminate mandatory minimum sentences<\/a> for rape, manslaughter, assaulting law enforcement, the possession and distribution of child pornography, and repeat violent felonies. Democrat support for rapists, murderers, pedophiles, and those who assault law enforcement is nothing new, but it is usually reserved for states like California, Washington, and Oregon.<\/p>\n<p>Cousins&rsquo; bill would remove the 5-year mandatory minimum prison sentence for those caught producing, publishing, selling, financing, and otherwise creating or helping to create child pornography of those under the age of 15, as well as the 15-year mandatory minimum for a second offense. It also eliminates language that would require that sentence to be served consecutively, as opposed to concurrently, with sentences for other offenses.<\/p>\n<p>Cousins would also remove the mandatory minimum of 25 years for rape, as well as the requirement that those years be served consecutively with other offenses.<\/p>\n<p>Anyone who brandishes or uses a firearm in the commission of murder, rape, forcible sodomy, inanimate or animate object sexual penetration, robbery, carjacking, burglary, malicious wounding, malicious bodily injury to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/this-cop-joined-the-protest-that-became-a-riot-she-says-d-c-cops-colluded-with-antifa\/\" title=\"This Cop Joined the \u2018Protest\u2019 That Became a Riot. She Says D.C. Cops Colluded With Antifa.\">law-enforcement officer<\/a>, aggravated malicious wounding, malicious wounding by mob, or abduction will not only have the mandatory minimum of three years in prison given for his crime, but actually have the offense reduced to between one and three years or a combination of jail time of a year or less and a fine.<\/p>\n<p>Coupled with gun restrictions &mdash; which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.raecousins.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Cousins also apparently supports<\/a> &mdash; these legislative changes seemingly indicate Democrats would prefer to make it easier for a citizen to get raped or murdered and have the rapist or murderer be handed a light sentence for his crime.<\/p>\n<p>It could be a perfect storm, as Democrats also want to <a href=\"https:\/\/lis.virginia.gov\/bill-details\/20261\/SB83\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">get rid of<\/a> all electronic recording devices in district and circuit courtrooms, which would give far-left judges who love to let violent criminals off the hook the ability to do so without public scrutiny. <\/p>\n<p>Add to that the violent tendencies of Attorney General Jay Jones, D-Va., the state&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/read-it-29-sheriffs-promise-to-safeguard-second-amendment-as-biden-cracks-down-on-gun-rights\/\" title=\"READ IT: 29 Sheriffs Promise To Safeguard Second Amendment As Biden Cracks Down On Gun Rights\">chief law enforcement officer<\/a>, who fantasized about murdering his Republican colleagues and their children, and Virginia is going to get a lot more dangerous.<\/p>\n<p>If the measure passes the legislature, it will be up to Spanberger to veto the bill. But Spanberger&rsquo;s blatant radicalism makes a veto extremely unlikely.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">      Breccan F. Thies is the White House correspondent for The Federalist. He previously covered education and culture issues for the Washington Examiner and Breitbart News. He holds a degree from the University of Virginia and is a 2022 Claremont Institute Publius Fellow. You can follow him on X: @BreccanFThies.<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-30 bdr-top-bold-black\">\n<div class=\"row g-0 align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6\">\n<div class=\"article-author-profile d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center justify-content-md-start\">\n<div class=\"article-author-details\">\n<div class=\"label-md\">Breccan F. Thies<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author-twitter label-sm d-flex align-items-center mt-10\">             <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter me-5\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>             <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Visit on Twitter<\/span>            <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BreccanFThies\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-decoration-none\">@BreccanFThies<\/a>           <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6 d-flex justify-content-center justify-content-md-end mt-15 mt-md-0\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/author\/breccan-thies\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">More Articles<\/a>     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-tags bdr-top-black mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-15 pt-md-45\">\n<ul class=\"list-unstyled d-flex flex-wrap align-items-center mb-0 mx-n10 p-0\">\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/abigail-spanberger\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Abigail Spanberger<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/child-pornography\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">child pornography<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/jay-jones\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Jay Jones<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/justice-system\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">justice system<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/legal-system\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">legal system<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/mandatory-minimum\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">mandatory minimum<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/murder\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">murder<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/rae-cousins\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Rae Cousins<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/rape\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">rape<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/violent-felonies\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">violent felonies<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/virginia\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Virginia<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Virginia Democrats seek to end many mandatory sentences<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":179,"featured_media":2545252,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Screenshot-2026-01-20-154749.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[3685,35975,38033],"class_list":["post-2545251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","tag-democrats","tag-public-safety","tag-virginia-politics"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Screenshot-2026-01-20-154749.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2545251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/179"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2545251"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2545251\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2545255,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2545251\/revisions\/2545255"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2545252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2545251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2545251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2545251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}