03 August 2012

No Weekend Jail



The Virginia Attorney General has opined that anyone convicted of a non-traffic felony in Virginia CANNOT be allowed to serve his jail time on weekends or on non-consecutive days. The argument seems solid and goes as such: the statute used to allow it, but was changed so that it no longer does. There's also an argument as to the difference "the trial" and "a trial" and the language difference's effect on whether the statute confers jurisdiction for a particular trial (the) or any trial (a).

I'm not sure why the General Assembly would think it necessary to take weekend incarceration away and leave home incarceration, work release, furloughs, and delayed reporting to jail. Nevertheless, the Attorney General's rationale seems solid.

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