Michael Boldin
Today, the Virginia House of Delegates passed a bill to push back against federal indefinite detention powers. The vote was 96-4.
In 2013, Virginia was the first state to pass legislation in response to the indefinite detention powers purportedly authorized in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2012, still active today. That law was a first step, limited in scope, forbidding state agencies, in some situations, from cooperating with some federal attempts to exercise the indefinite detention provisions written into sections 1021 and 1022 of the National Defense Authorization Act.
For 2015, House Bill 2144 (HB2144), sponsored by Del. Benjamin L. Cline (R-Rockbridge), takes things two steps beyond simply refusing to cooperate with federal agents in the event of indefinite detention in Virginia. It sets the stage to create the type of leverage and attention D.C. would not want public if it refuses to cooperate with the state of Virginia.
