First bill of 2027 aims to protect people with autism, other disabilities (copy)
The first new bill filed for the 2027 General Assembly is a replay of an idea to make sure people with intellectual or developmental disability don’t end up in prison because they said something they didn’t understand they were saying to police.
The measure, Senate Bill 837, says statements made by individuals with those disabilities should not be admissible in court in most cases.
“This bill is incredibly important to ensure that the justice system works for our most vulnerable Virginians,” said state Sen. Barbara Favola, D-Arlington, the bill’s sponsor.
Read Senate Bill 837: A bill to protect people with disabilities
The bill covers statements to police made by defendants who have been diagnosed by a psychiatrist or clinical psychologist with autism spectrum disorder, a developmental disability or an intellectual disability during any pretrial interview or before they had a lawyer.
It says a judge must find that such defendants’ disability was why they decided to speak to police — basically, that they didn’t understand that they did not have to.
Last year’s nearly identical bill passed the state Senate on a mainly party-line basis, although state Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin County, a conservative lawyer who is outspoken on defendants’ rights in court, voted for it.
But the bill died in the House Appropriations Committee.
"The bill is the same as last year, and the clarity added around the definition of an intellectual or developmental disability … should eliminate fiscal impact questions,” Favola said.
What's an intellectual or developmental disability?
That clarification says that if an assessment finds a defendant's function at or below a 14-year-old level, their statements to police should not be admitted in court.
The exceptions are for defendants charged with aggravated murder — murder that happens with the commission of such felonies as abduction, rape or robbery, as well as murder for hire and murder of a police officer — as well as for individuals previously twice convicted of violent crime.
Efforts to protect individuals with autism, intellectual or developmental disabilities and mental issues in encounters with police have stalled in recent years.
After years of trying, Del. Vivian Watts, D-Fairfax, and state Sen Jennifer Boysko, D-Fairfax, convinced the legislature to approve measures that would allow those defendants to argue against conviction for felony assault on a law enforcement officer by showing the assault was the result of their disability, but their bills were vetoed by both former Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Gov. Abigail Spanberger.
Dave Ress (804) 649-6948
