Virginia Democrats will move to end mandatory minimum sentencing and enact other criminal justice reforms, House Majority leader Charniele Herring (D-Alexandria) said Friday. She spoke in a panel on criminal justice reform during the party’s first virtual statewide convention.

“We’ve got to get rid of that,” Herring said, referring to mandatory minimum sentencing.

The discussion came amid three weeks of protests for racial equality following the killing of George Floyd. Herring, as well as Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring, U.S. Rep Bobby Scott, and Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy (D-Prince William) amplified the calls for change.

“What we’re seeing right now is a national reckoning with police brutality against Black people in this country and the systemic failures that cause and allow this misconduct to be perpetuated,” said Attorney General Herring. “This national reckoning gives us the opportunity to really make some advances that are long overdue and to recognize that this stems from a century of law enforcement being used to enforce Jim Crow laws, to enforce segregation, to break up civil rights demonstrations, and be a part of mass incarceration.

Both the attorney general and Foy are running for the Democratic nomination for governor.

In 2020, the party took control of both houses of the General Assembly. With Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam’s support, they passed the Virginia Community Policing Act in this year’s session. It requires law enforcement to collect data including race, ethnicity, age, and gender of the person stopped, as well as what warning citations, summons, or arrest was issued. Lawmakers also passed a bill establishing a public defender position in Prince William County.

On other measures, the party was more cautious. It delayed reinstating parole, expanding expungement, and raising public defender pay, among other measures, according to an analysis by Virginia Mercury.

Critics said Democrats could have used their majority to achieve more.

Majority Leader Herring laid out a more deliberate approach.”What is key for longevity is to have, it would be nice, to have bipartisan support,” she said.

Brad Haywood, a public defender in Arlington and founder of the reform group Justice Forward Virginia, said he was pleased to hear talk of scrapping mandatory minimums and dropping other laws that disproportionately burden Black people.

“I didn’t hear any explicit promises but I was encouraged by what [Charniele Herring] said,” he said. I don’t want to hear about a few bad apples. I don’t want to hear about isolated incidents. What I want to hear is that this is a symptom of a problem that has plagued our country for centuries.”

Foy drew on her experience as a public defender, saying the current criminal justice system perpetuated inequalities and racial injustice.

“What does that mean when Virginia has three-strike laws and mandatory minimums, these arcane, draconian ways to really address crime that make none of us safer?” she asked. “It’s about police reform, it’s about ensuring that we are funding mental health services and diversion programs and second-chance programs here in the Commonwealth.”

The convention fell on Juneteenth, which Gov. Northam ordered this week to be a state holiday. Julius Spain, senior president of the Arlington branch of the NAACP, questioned why the party held its convention on the day that celebrates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans.

“You’d almost think there should be a pause,” he told DCist/WAMU.

The Democratic Party did not respond to a question about the timing by press time.

However, appetite for discussion of policing and criminal justice reform appears to be surging across the state. The newly formed Arlington for Justice held a panel on police reform hours before the convention. Earlier this week, the NAACP of Fairfax convened a town hall on policing.

The timing of the legislative session has not yet been announced, but is expected to be in August.