WASHINGTON — Maryland and Virginia politicians vying for the prize of a new FBI headquarters have just a few months left before a crucial federal government decision. The U.S. General Services Administration is expected to pick the best of three locations as soon as September, ending nearly two decades of advocacy, confusion and frustration...
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Virginia
Virginia
Most states in the U.S. are in violation of a major federal drug statute. The 1971 Controlled Substances Act lists marijuana in the most dangerous category defined in the law, on par with cocaine and heroin because of its supposed potential for abuse and lack of medical applications. But 36 states plus the District of Columbia allow either full legalization for adult use or wide scale medical use, putting them at odds with federal law.
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Issues familiar to North Carolinians are front and center in today's Virginia gubernatorial election Voters are headed to the polls today to elect the next governor of Virginia in a close race that has drawn significant national attention and that will likely have political implications for North Carolina — a neighboring state that is grappling with many similar policy debates.
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Last week, Virginia became the first southern state to abolish the death penalty. At the signing ceremony, Gov. Ralph Northam and other speakers repeatedly referenced the racist history of the Virginia death penalty as a prime reason for its abolition. It is not a coincidence that Virginia, the birthplace of American slavery and the capital of the Confederacy, has been at the forefront of the American death penalty.
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Editor's note: The chasm between the policies pursued by legislative leaders in North Carolina and Virginia continues to grow. The following stories by reporter Ned Oliver of the Virginia Mercury highlight that divergence on two high-profile issues involving racial inequities in the criminal justice system.
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