Commission to Examine Racial and Economic Inequity in Virginia Law records, 2019 - 2022

On June 4, 2019, Governor Ralph Northam signed Executive Order Number 32, establishing the Commission to Examine Racial Inequity in Virginia Law. Later that summer, Governor Northam appointed a number of lawyers, judges, and law professors to this Commission. Governor Northam’s Executive Order directed the Commission to identify Virginia laws that “have the effect or could have the effect of enabling or promoting racial inequity or inequality,” so that the Commission’s findings and recommendations could be distributed to promote best practices in reducing racial inequity in the Commonwealth. The Commission was later renamed the "Commission to Examine Racial and Economic Inequality in Virginia Law".

The work of the Commission directly resulted in the repeal of segregationist laws, the affirmative passage of new legislation to address ongoing racial disparities across various areas of life, and specific budgetary actions and proposals by the Northam administration.

Students, faculty, and graduates of the University of Virginia Law School played a significant role in the work of the Commission. The initial membership of the Commission included law school graduates Michael Herring and Henry Chambers, as well as Andrew Block, associate Professor of Law and Director of the Law School’s State and Local Government Policy Clinic. Block was also named the Commission’s Vice-Chair.

Andrew Block and his clinic students and research assistants served as the research staff for the Commission. Students wrote legal and policy research memos, presented their findings and policy recommendations at Commission meetings, and were the primary drafters of the second and third Commission reports to the Governor. Meanwhile, Commissioners Herring and Chambers, drawing on their expertise in criminal justice, voting, and civil rights, helped refine and shape the policy recommendations that the Commission eventually submitted to Governor Northam.