The Virginia Christian Alliance has been sounding the alarm about a “perfect storm” of Democrat policies undermining life, liberty, and law enforcement. In my recent article, Virginia’s Perfect Storm: How One‑Party Rule Threatens Life, Liberty, and Law Enforcement, I traced that agenda; HB 863 is its next diabolical step.
Democrats Eliminate Mandatory Minimums for Rape, Child Pornography, and Manslaughter—God’s Sword of Justice Surrendered
Romans 13:1-4 declares: “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God… [The ruler] is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.”
God established civil government with a specific purpose: to punish evil and protect the innocent. The state bears the sword—not as suggestion, not as decoration, but as God’s instrument of justice against those who shed innocent blood, violate the vulnerable, and destroy human life.
Virginia House Bill 863, sponsored by Del. Rae Cousins (D-Richmond), abandons this God-given duty. The bill eliminates mandatory minimum prison sentences for dozens of serious offenses—including violent crimes, child sex crimes, and attacks on law-enforcement officers—by repealing most of Virginia’s remaining mandatory minimums.
Track the bill: https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB863
This isn’t criminal justice reform. This is the state abdicating its responsibility to defend victims and restrain evil. When government refuses to wield the sword against those who rape children, produce child pornography, and kill the innocent, it ceases to be God’s servant—and becomes an accomplice to wickedness.
What Virginia HB863 Actually Does
HB863 is titled “Offenses, certain; elimination of mandatory minimum sentences.” The bill removes mandatory minimum prison terms for dozens of criminal offenses, giving judges discretion to sentence convicted offenders anywhere within statutory ranges—including at the lower end.
Here are the specific crimes that would no longer carry guaranteed minimum sentences:
Rape and Sexual Battery
Virginia law currently ties mandatory minimums to a long list of violent and sexual offenses. HB863 strips away many of those mandatory floors, allowing judges to impose lighter sentences even in some of the most serious cases.
Translation: Offenders convicted of violent and sexual crimes could receive far less prison time than current law guarantees. The victim’s trauma is deemed secondary to the offender’s “unique circumstances.”
Child Pornography Production and Distribution
Reform advocates themselves highlight HB863 as repealing mandatory minimums even for certain child sex crimes that currently carry life-linked mandatory minimums, which would include some offenses involving child sexual exploitation.
Translation: Predators who sexually exploit children could serve minimal sentences at a judge’s discretion. The children whose bodies and dignity are destroyed receive no assurance that justice will be served.
Manslaughter (Including DUI Manslaughter)
News coverage notes that HB863 would wipe out mandatory jail time for certain DUI offenses with very high blood-alcohol levels, and similar changes are proposed across other serious crimes. Families who lose loved ones to impaired drivers would have no guarantee that the offender serves meaningful prison time.
Translation: Take an innocent life through reckless intoxication, and you might walk free with minimal consequences. The victim’s family gets no promise of accountability.
Firearm Use in Commission of Felony
Policy summaries identify use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, some firearm possession offenses, and assault on a police officer among the mandatory-minimum statutes HB863 would strip.
Translation: Armed robbery, armed assault, and other gun crimes could result in lighter sentences. The very crimes Democrats claim to oppose—gun violence—receive less guaranteed punishment under their own bill.
Assault on Law Enforcement Officers
HB863 removes mandatory minimums for assaulting police officers and other law enforcement personnel. Officers who risk their lives to protect communities would have no assurance that those who attack them face serious consequences.
Translation: Attack a cop, get lenient treatment. Democrats prioritize criminals’ “discretion” over officers’ safety.
Repeat Violent Felonies and Other Serious Crimes
The bill also appears to repeal mandatory minimums for some repeat violent offenders and certain DUI cases (including removing the five-day minimum for some first-time DUI offenders).
Del. Cousins defends the bill as “common-sense” reform that gives “experienced judges” discretion for “unique facts of each case.” But here’s the reality: Mandatory minimums exist precisely because some crimes are so serious that society demands baseline accountability, regardless of a judge’s personal philosophy or sympathy for offenders.
HB863 doesn’t eliminate maximum sentences—it removes the floor. Violent offenders, child predators, and those who take innocent lives could serve far less time than current law guarantees.
But here’s why this matters biblically: Government that refuses to punish evil defies God’s purpose for the state.
Why This Matters: Government’s God-Given Duty to Punish Evil
Scripture is crystal clear: Civil government exists to restrain evil and protect the innocent.
Romans 13:3-4: “For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.”
God didn’t give the state a sword to hang on the wall. He gave it a sword to use—to execute justice against those who shed innocent blood, violate the vulnerable, and destroy human life.
When government refuses to wield that sword—when it gives rapists, child predators, and killers lenient sentences in the name of “discretion”—it abandons its God-ordained purpose.
Genesis 9:6: “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.”
God commands justice for those who take human life because humans bear His image. Every murder, every rape, every act of child sexual exploitation is an assault on the image of God. The state’s duty is to punish such evil severely—not to minimize it through judicial “discretion.”
Proverbs 17:15: “He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the LORD.”
When judges minimize sentences for rapists and child predators, they justify the wicked. When the state prioritizes offenders’ “unique circumstances” over victims’ justice, it becomes an abomination before God.
HB863 isn’t compassionate. It’s cowardice. It’s the state refusing to execute God’s wrath on wrongdoers because it values criminals’ comfort over victims’ dignity.
Now, let me address Virginia pastors:
Dear Pastor: Will You Defend the Vulnerable?
If you’re a Virginia pastor and you faithfully preach God’s Word, the question is not whether you teach Scripture—but whether you have made room in the pulpit for what is happening right outside your church doors: civil authorities in Richmond dismantling the very protections God ordained to restrain evil.
Your congregation includes rape survivors. Families who lost loved ones to drunk drivers. Parents terrified that child predators will receive lenient sentences. Law-enforcement officers who risk their lives daily.
Yet in many churches, these concrete threats from Richmond are rarely, if ever, addressed. HB863 will move forward unless pastors mobilize their congregations—but too often, anything touching “politics” is kept out of the pulpit, even when it is really about justice, mercy, and the protection of the vulnerable.
Meanwhile, Virginia Democrats are stripping mandatory minimums from dozens of serious crimes, including child sex crimes. While you preach sermons on God’s love, the state is abandoning violent-crime victims to “judicial discretion.”
Proverbs 31:8-9 commands: “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.”
Rape victims cannot speak for themselves in the legislature. Children exploited in pornography have no voice. Families mourning loved ones killed by drunk drivers need you to defend their right to justice.
Will you speak up? Or will you remain silent while Virginia surrenders God’s sword?
What You Can Do RIGHT NOW to Stop HB863
HB863 was prefiled on January 13, 2026, and referred to the House Committee for Courts of Justice. It hasn’t been voted on yet. You can stop this if you act NOW.
First, contact your state delegate immediately.
Find your delegate: https://whosmy.virginiageneralassembly.gov/
Call their office. Email them. Say this:
“I am your constituent and I demand you vote NO on HB863. Eliminating mandatory minimums for violent crimes, child sex crimes, serious DUI offenses, and attacks on law-enforcement officers abandons victims and protects criminals. Romans 13 commands government to bear the sword against evil. HB863 surrenders that sword. Vote NO.”
Second, testify against HB863 at committee hearings.
When this bill comes up for public comment, show up in Richmond and speak. Share how eliminating mandatory minimums endangers victims and emboldens criminals.
Track hearings: https://lis.virginia.gov
Third, mobilize your church.
Print copies of this article. Share it with your small group. Host a prayer meeting focused on justice for victims. Organize church members to contact delegates together.
For more on defending the sanctity of life and biblical justice, visit our Sanctity of Life category.
This Is Spiritual Warfare Over Justice
Ephesians 6:12 reminds us: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”
This isn’t just bad policy. This is spiritual warfare over whether the state will fulfill God’s purpose—to bear the sword against evil and defend the innocent.
Satan hates justice because God is just. Every rapist who walks free, every child predator who serves minimal time, every drunk driver who faces lenient consequences—is a victory for the enemy and a defeat for God’s created order.
But we serve the God of justice. Psalm 89:14 declares, “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne.” When we fight for mandatory minimums, when we demand accountability for violent criminals, when we defend victims—we align ourselves with God’s character.
You are not helpless. Contact your delegate. Testify at hearings. Mobilize your church.
And demand that Virginia’s government bears the sword God gave it—against rape, against child exploitation, against those who shed innocent blood.
________________________________________
Categories: Sanctity of Life | Our Nation Under God | Obedience to God
Stay informed on biblical justice and public policy. Subscribe to VCA’s weekly newsletter.
Newsletter signup: LINK
Jeff Bayard is Content Manager at Virginia Christian Alliance, where he champions biblical values and constitutional principles. Read more from Jeff LINK
