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Despite push to charge UVa torch ralliers, a legal case has not been made
Despite push to charge UVa torch ralliers, a legal case has not been made
By TYLER HAMMEL thammel@dailyprogress.com
(434) 978-7268
Aug 28, 2019
Daily Progress file
White supremacists carry torches through University of Virginia Grounds on Aug. 11, 2017.
Daily Progress file
Larry J. Sabato has been with the University of Virginia for quite a while, but he never expected to see something like he did on Aug. 11, 2017. ... Standing on the Lawn, overlooking the Rotunda, that evening, the Lawn pavilion resident and director of the UVa Center for Politics was unsure what to expect exactly. Surely the rumors they’d heard of a torch march couldn’t be real, he said.
Students were moving in to Lawn rooms that weekend, and Sabato said he and other faculty members had gone around earlier, encouraging them to leave for the night, “just in case.” It’s a good thing they did, he said, because not long after night came, so did the marchers.
....
More than two years after that rally, some continue to advocate for criminal charges for the marchers under a state burning statute, despite claims from officials that the statute is too weak. ... The statute in question, Virginia Code Section 18.2-423.01 — a successor to a previous cross-burning law — makes it illegal to burn an object in a public place with the intent to intimidate or to make someone fear for their safety or life. The alleged crime could be treated as a felony or misdemeanor; felonies have no statute of limitations in Virginia.
For the last two years, Anne Coughlin, a professor of criminal law and procedure at UVa, has advocated for charges to be brought against the rally participants and organizers under the code section. After initially being cautious in advertising her search for students who had witnessed the march, Coughlin took her work public in April 2018 after Jason Kessler, the lead organizer of the Aug. 12, 2017, Unite the Right rally, returned to UVa Grounds.
....
Tyler is a reporter for the Daily Progress. You can reach him at (434) 978-7268
By TYLER HAMMEL thammel@dailyprogress.com
(434) 978-7268
Aug 28, 2019
Daily Progress file
White supremacists carry torches through University of Virginia Grounds on Aug. 11, 2017.
Daily Progress file
Larry J. Sabato has been with the University of Virginia for quite a while, but he never expected to see something like he did on Aug. 11, 2017. ... Standing on the Lawn, overlooking the Rotunda, that evening, the Lawn pavilion resident and director of the UVa Center for Politics was unsure what to expect exactly. Surely the rumors they’d heard of a torch march couldn’t be real, he said.
Students were moving in to Lawn rooms that weekend, and Sabato said he and other faculty members had gone around earlier, encouraging them to leave for the night, “just in case.” It’s a good thing they did, he said, because not long after night came, so did the marchers.
....
More than two years after that rally, some continue to advocate for criminal charges for the marchers under a state burning statute, despite claims from officials that the statute is too weak. ... The statute in question, Virginia Code Section 18.2-423.01 — a successor to a previous cross-burning law — makes it illegal to burn an object in a public place with the intent to intimidate or to make someone fear for their safety or life. The alleged crime could be treated as a felony or misdemeanor; felonies have no statute of limitations in Virginia.
For the last two years, Anne Coughlin, a professor of criminal law and procedure at UVa, has advocated for charges to be brought against the rally participants and organizers under the code section. After initially being cautious in advertising her search for students who had witnessed the march, Coughlin took her work public in April 2018 after Jason Kessler, the lead organizer of the Aug. 12, 2017, Unite the Right rally, returned to UVa Grounds.
....
Tyler is a reporter for the Daily Progress. You can reach him at (434) 978-7268
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