University of Virginia law professor Rich Schragger has authored legal reviews and newspaper columns about the legality of moving war memorials. Opinions on whether to move Confederate statues tend to split along partisan lines, he said during a phone call. “It’s interesting that these things got on the ballot in the first place,” Schragger said, adding that city councils or county supervisors can elect on their own to move monuments. “They can do a referendum, but they don’t need to.”
The plaintiffs have a few ways to collect their money. They can place liens on houses or properties and garnish future wages. University of Virginia professor of law Micah Schwartzman says collection efforts all come down to symbolism. “For some of them, it will mean financial ruin and bankruptcy. They may be judgement proof, in the sense that they simply don’t have the financial means to pay out these damage awards. In those kind of cases the damages may be symbolic, but I think here the symbolism matters,” Schwartzman said.
Yet to be seen is whether substantial damages awarded under Virginia law will inhibit far right violence elsewhere in the country. A University of Virginia Jewish history professor, James Loeffler, who is covering the case, quoted lead defense attorney Roberta Kaplan as saying outside the court that she plans to retry based on the two federal claims.
Legal experts, however, said that the jury’s decision came down heavily on the side of the plaintiffs. “Though there is some ambiguity in the verdict, the bottom line is that the jury found for the plaintiffs and awarded significant compensatory and punitive damages,” said Richard C. Schragger, a professor at the University of Virginia Law School who had been following the case closely. Mr. Schragger said the outstanding question was why the jury found a racial conspiracy to commit violence under state law but deadlocked over a similar provision of federal law.
Many of the new laws instruct employers to accept religious exemption requests at face value. At least one requires businesses to offer exemptions based on “sincerely held personal beliefs” that aren’t tied to faith. These policy moves will further complicate efforts to sort out how to apply existing religious freedom protections to the workplace, legal experts said. They also make it difficult for businesses covered by proposed federal vaccine mandates to know how to proceed. “We’re in uncharted territory here,” wrote Douglas Laycock, a UVA professor of law and religious studies, in an email....
“He was fiercely independent,” says A.E. Dick Howard, the University of Virginia law professor who led the 1970 campaign to ratify a new state constitution at Holton’s request. “He was never anybody else’s man. No one ever commanded Linwood Holton.”
Ranked as CNBC’s Top State for Business for two consecutive years, Virginia earned the distinction in part for its “wealth of colleges and universities.” These are some of the educators and leaders who are helping to grow that national reputation for academic excellence. (The list includes Pam Cipriano, dean of the School of Nursing, and Whitt Clement, rector of the University.)
These are Virginians who feed and delight us, nourishing body and soul through arts and entertainment, media, food, hospitality and tourism. (The list includes Mattherw McLendon, dorector and curator of The Fralin Museum of Art at UVA, and alumnus Jamelle Bouie, a columnist for The New York Times.)
High achievers all, these Virginians are well-rounded leaders in their fields and their communities, sharing their expertise and moving the needle for growth and progress. (The list includes alumnus and former Cavalier football players Ron Carey, founder and CEO of Tilt Creative + Production.)
The flu season is beginning to gain traction with a predominant strain that concerns one infectious disease expert, and he’s urging everyone 6 months and older to get a flu shot. “We’re starting to see the first cases,” said Dr. Bill Petri, UVA professor of infectious diseases. “And it’s the more dangerous of the three strains that’s here. It’s what’s called influenza A (H3N2), which is associated with worse diseases, especially in the elderly.”
“We don’t if it’s more transmissible. We don’t know if it’ll evade vaccines, but we’re issuing travel bans. What’s gotten everyone so concerned?” News 5’s Caleb Perhne asked Dr. Kyle Enfield of the University of Virginia. “The omicron has more mutations in the spike protein than other previous strains have had,” Enfield said. “So there are a lot of questions about, ‘Will it spread more rapidly?’”
The variant was discovered in South Africa at the beginning of November. UVA Professor of Infectious Diseases Dr. William Petri said it’s more infectious than the delta variant. “It’s concerning because it replaced the delta variant in South Africa. Omicron could outcompete delta indicates – at least in South Africa – it’s more infectious,” he said.
Omicron was first identified in South Africa. It’s not deadlier, but it does appear to spread easier than other variants. “It’s gone from about 300 cases a day in Johannesburg for example to like 20,000, 30,000 cases a day today,” said Dr. Bill Petri, an infectious disease specialist out of UVA Health.
Getting that jab now, before a widespread surge in the U.S., might be the best bet at preventing serious illness. “I think hearing that you might need another shot, in some aspects, is demoralizing for some,” said Dr. Taison Bell at UVA Health. Booster turnout nationally hasn’t been as high as doctors hoped. “There’s a feeling from when we first released the vaccines that, this is it. Once I get the vaccine, things are done,” added Bell.
“Recognize that we are going to be in some degree of a pandemic for a time to come,” said Dr. Kyle Enfield, acting chief medical officer of critical care at the University of Virginia. Enfield said this variant seems to have some mutations with the spike protein that may allow it to escape antibodies produced by the immune system. “We don’t think that omicron will take vaccines back to square one or the absence of vaccines,” he said. “But it may, like delta, lead to some more breakthrough infections.”
Representing industries ranging from retail and fitness to tech and biosciences, these creative, visionary trendsetters and entrepreneurs keep the Old Dominion new and relevant. (The list includes alumna and former Cavalier diver Tracy Tynan, director of the Virginia Unmanned Systems Center.)
The omicron variant of coronavirus is new and different, but a University of Virginia infectious disease expert is cautioning the public to not assume it’s more dangerous. “I would say the word right now is diligence. And being cautious,” said Dr. Taison D. Bell, an assistant professor of medicine at UVA’s division of infectious diseases and international health, as well as the division of pulmonary/critical care medicine.
“We’d all like to let our guard down,” said Dr. William Petri, chief of the division of infectious diseases and international health at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. But “it behooves us to continue doing the common sense things that protect other people, like wearing masks when you’re in the grocery store,” he said.
Overshadowing the case is the Supreme Court’s still-pending decision in a separate dispute over Texas’ unprecedented six-week abortion ban, SB8, which has been in effect for nearly three months and dominated national headlines. “SB8 has the effect of making the Mississippi statute look quite moderate,” UVA law professor Julia Mahoney said. “So in a sense, upholding the Mississippi statute looks now like kind of a middle ground.”
A festival that supports area families battling childhood cancer has gotten a big boost from a local fuel company. According to a release, Tiger Fuel Company is making a $20,000 holiday contribution to JackFest. JackFest is named for a local boy, Jack Callahan, who beat metastatic cancer following 13 months of intensive treatment in 2019 and 2020. JackFest fundraising efforts benefit the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Charlottesville and the Pediatric Oncology unit at UVA Children’s.