Make a Plan to Vote on June 17, 2025!
I Promise…, as Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney, it won’t be “Business as Usual.”
PLEASE VOTE FOR ME ON JUNE 17, 2025!
HELP US HELP NORFOLK
AMINA MATHENY-WILLARD
Attorney and Counselor at Law
OVER 20 Years Experience as a Criminal Defense Attorney.
I have worked in the trenches, day in and day out, for OVER 2 Decades with Judges, Clerks, Bailiffs, Correctional Officers, Probation Officers, Police Officers, Victims and the Accused, as well as the families of the victims and the accused and prosecutors. I have engaged in extensive, detailed conversations with individuals accused of crimes and I have been able to gain the necessary knowledge to effectuate crime prevention.
Enough is Enough!
Change is Long Overdue!
As Norfolk Commonwealth Attorney it won’t be, “Business As Usual!”
Paid For and Authorized By Committee to Elect Amina For Norfolk
Help build the grassroots movement towards bold, inclusive reform that Norfolk needs!
NORFOLK COMMUNITY ACTION PARTNERSHIPS
As Norfolk Commonwealth Attorney, I would immediately establish Community Action Partnerships to collaborate in order to improve the quality of life for the citizens of Norfolk. It is not fair to the citizens of Norfolk nor the numerous agencies in Norfolk to operate independently and separate from each other as opposed to engaging in a collaborative effort. These partnerships will reduce crime and improve the quality of life for ALL citizens in the City of Norfolk.
This Vision for Norfolk is Long Overdue!
INTEGRATION OF NORFOLK COMMONWEALTH ATTORNEY’S OFFICE INTO THE COMMUNITY
As Norfolk Commonwealth Attorney, I will ensure that ALL citizens (the accused and family members of the accused as well as victims and family members of victims), agencies, Civic Leagues, Community Organizations, Churches, Small Business, Etc., will have Regular Contact and a Direct Line of Communication with the Norfolk Commonwealth Attorney’s Office.
The Culture of the Norfolk Commonwealth Attorney’s office would invite communication and collaboration with the citizens in the City of Norfolk.
This Vision for Norfolk is Long Overdue!
RESTORATIVE JUSTICE
As Norfolk Commonwealth Attorney, I would immediately initiate Restorative Justice. Restorative Justice allows the accused to empathize with the victim by promoting open conversation between the accused and the victim. This process promotes accountability and restoration.
“Research shows that crime victims often do not feel that prosecution and sentencing serve them well; restorative justice can help address their concerns. These programs also have a consistent track record of achieving lowers rates of recidivism than traditional penalties, including for serious offenses.” (1)
This Vision for Norfolk is Long Overdue!
(1) Fair and Just Prosecutions, 21 Principles for the 21st Century Prosecutor; Alliance for Safety and Justice, “Crime Survivors Speak,” https://allianceforsafetyandjustice.org/wp-content/ uploads/documents/Crime%20Survivors%20Speak%20Report.pdf.
NO Cash Bail
Most people in jail in the United States are there because they can’t afford bail. This starting point serves no public safety purpose, effectively punishes people for being poor, and pressures them to plead guilty. It costs taxpayers billions of dollars each year, enriching the bail bond industry. (1)
Individuals that are charged with crimes spend extensive amounts of time in jail BEFORE they are tried. Over half of the individuals incarcerated in the Norfolk City Jail are awaiting trial and are Presumed to be Innocent.
This Vision for a True NO Cash Bail System is Truly Long Overdue
Picture Courtesy of Aita Law, PLLC.
(1) Fair and Just Prosecutions, 21 Principles for the 21st Century Prosecutor; Alliance for Safety and Justice, “Crime Survivors Speak,” https://allianceforsafetyandjustice.org/wp-content/ uploads/documents/Crime%20Survivors%20Speak%20Report.pdf
LGBTQ+ Community
The LGBTQ+ community, especially of color, are over-represented in the criminal and juvenile justice systems. Frequently targeted and vulnerable to increased criminalization, then to be faced with and regularly experience assault and violence in correctional settings are extraordinary challenges.
Norfolk is home to the only regional LGBT Community Center, local LGBT business chamber called Hampton Roads Business OutReach, the Pride Festival and Hampton Roads Pride Organization. The LGBT community is extremely impactful here in the region but especially in Norfolk.
As Norfolk Commonwealth Attorney I will assemble an equality task force that will aggressively address criminal justice reform. Our office will liaison directly with members of the LGBTQ+ community, Norfolk City Council and State Legislators to make real changes.
This Vision for Norfolk is Long Overdue!
Picture Courtesy of Amazon.Com. Straight Ally Flag 3' x 5' LGBTQ Pride Flag Single Sided Wall Decoration Gay Straight Alliance
LGBTMAP.Org. MAP - Criminal Justice.
TASK FORCE ON HUMAN RIGHTS
I will advocate for the creation of a task force focused on studying Human Rights in the City of Norfolk. This task force would be tasked with investigating and making recommendations to address the issues concerning human rights specifically the concerns addressed by Black Lives Matter, the LGBT+ Community, Elder Abuse, Human Trafficking and Sex Trafficking.
This task force would be made of citizens in the City of Norfolk who are members of these communities.
In this way, the Norfolk Commonwealth Attorney’s office could institute policies and procedures appropriate to address these human rights concerns.
Major funding is needed in order to have a more robust response from the City of Norfolk’s Community Agencies (ie: Norfolk Community Services Board, Norfolk Social Services), Private and Public Organizations, Civic Leagues, Small Businesses, Churches, Non-Profit Organizations, etc., to issues that are now, inadequately being addressed by the criminal system.
This Vision for Norfolk is Long Overdue!
Picture Courtesy of Human Trafficking: a Human Rights Violation, https://combathumantrafficking.org/2018/12/human-trafficking-human-rights-violation/.
IMMIGRATION AND THE CRIMINAL SYSTEM
“The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has come to rely heavily on state and local criminal justice systems in order to find non–U.S. citizens who may be deportable and push them into the detention and deportation process. This collaboration is a complex and ill-defined entanglement consisting of a web of unregulated and overlapping Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) programs and mechanisms whose parameters and operations easily mutate, that are not restrained by formal regulations or mechanisms of accountability, that operate with little transparency, and that do not closely monitor or hold accountable the criminal justice systems that arrest and detain the people who end up in ICE custody. One particularly alarming result of this entanglement is that it is becoming more common for citizens, too, to be swept into the detention-deportation system.” (1)
As Norfolk Commonwealth Attorney, I will develop a task force that will aggressively address these concerns to ensure that all citizens in the City of Norfolk are treated fairly.
This Vision for Norfolk is Long Overdue!
Picture Courtesy of: At the intersection of race and the criminal justice system: Jayashri Srikantiah, Center for Comparative Studies in Race & Ethnicity, May 10, 2018.
(1) National Immigration Law Center, https://www.nilc.org/issues/immigration-enforcement/localjusticeandice/.
ABOLISH MANDATORY MINIMUM SENTENCES
On January 5, 2021, the Virginia State Crime Commission recommended that the General Assembly eliminate every mandatory minimum sentence in the criminal code, ranging from traffic violations to violent felony offenses. It also voted to recommend that anyone currently serving a mandatory minimum sentence be eligible for re-sentencing. (1)
“ “We choose judges and juries carefully, and then mandatory minimum laws force them to ignore their judgment and humanity and that is not justice,” Elders said.
The threat of mandatory minimum sentences also distorts the legal process, Elders said, because prosecutors can call for a mandatory sentence while offering a shorter sentence as part of a plea agreement.” (2)
This Vision for Norfolk is Long Overdue!
(1) Evans, Whittney. “Crime Commission Recommends Abolishing Mandatory Minimum Sentences.” VPM/NPR News, Jan. 5, 2021, 05:01.
(2) Id.
MAKE DIVERSION THE RULE
“Well-designed programs that divert people from jail or prison, or from the justice system entirely, can conserve resources, reduce reoffending, and diminish the collateral harms of criminal prosecution.
These programs keep people in the community instead of locked up. When diversion precedes charging, participants can stay out of the criminal justice system entirely. After charging or conviction, diversion similarly provides an alternative to incarceration.” (1)
This Vision for Norfolk is Long Overdue!
(1) Fair and Just Prosecutions, 21 Principles for the 21st Century Prosecutor.
DE-CRIMINALIZE SOCIAL AND PUBLIC HEALTH CHALLENGES
As Norfolk Commonwealth Attorney, I would avoid criminalizing behavior that is the result of mental health challenges, drug/substance addiction, homelessness, poverty, human trafficking, sex-trafficking, social-economic status, etc.
This Vision for Norfolk is Long Overdue!
Picture Courtesy of PilotOnline.Com Article Written By Gary A. Harki, Staff Writer, December 11, 2018, at 11:10 a.m.
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Mailing Address:
COMMITTEE TO ELECT AMINA FOR NORFOLK, c/o Amina Matheny-Willard, 999 Waterside Drive, Suite 2525, Norfolk, VA 23510
Email: amina@aminafornorfolk.com