22-04-2025
Newport News forum addresses criminal justice reform
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) — Rep. Bobby Scott, Norfolk Commonwealth's Attorney Ramin Fatehi and several others were part of a Newport News NAACP forum Monday discussing criminal justice reform.
The Voices for Justice: A Community Conversation forum was held in collaboration with the Ivy Baptist Church Social Justice Ministry at Ivy Baptist Church. Hampton University Professor Zina McGee and criminal justice reform advocate Kemba Smith Pradia were also among the speakers.
Pradia shared her own story of incarceration and the impact of mandatory minimum sentencing.
'It was just important for me to get our communities to understand the need for us to change the narrative of how we perceive formerly incarcerated people across the country, and in particular, in Virginia,' Pradia said.
She was sentenced to more than 24 years in prison for a non-violent offense connected to her abusive boyfriend's drug activity.
She received a presidential pardon, and she now speaks out on the need for justice reform and what she believes needs to be done.
'[We need] to focus on evidence-based research and to have more transparency and data in our Virginia system, and to celebrate formerly incarcerated people who have success stories,' Pradia said.
Scott, who has worked on sentencing reform throughout his career, also spoke.
'The first thing you have to do in criminal justice reform is make a decision whether or not you're playing politics with slogans and sound bites, or actually reducing crime using evidence and research,' Scott said.
Fatehi offered a prosecutor's perspective on criminal justice reform.
'We are responsible for being intentional, that we have a duty to make sure that we are focusing our efforts on people who commit violent crimes and holding them accountable, but not over-killing, not over-punishing,' Fatehi said.
Pradia added that it was important for her to continue to share her message of changing the public's perception of those who have been incarcerated.
She also believes it's important to focus on providing resources for inmates, such as training and education.
'We live in a country that incarcerates over 2 million people, which is more than any other country in the world,' Pradia said, 'and so with so many people coming home, I don't want our communities across the country to be fearful of formerly incarcerated people.'
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