During discovery, prosecutors are supposed to give defendants all of the evidence they have gathered against them in order to allow the accused to prepare to defend themselves at trial. But Virginia does not require prosecutors to do so.

The rule change is designed to allow defendants charged with felonies or indicted on misdemeanor charges to know in advance what evidence the state plans to use against them so that if they decide to enter a guilty plea, it is with full knowledge of the risk they are taking.

Defendants will now be permitted to “inspect and review any relevant reports prepared by law enforcement officers,” including electronic records and footage from police body cams, although the commonwealth’s attorney is not required to provide them with copies.

They will have access to any written or oral witness statements, confessions, autopsy results, ballistic tests, fingerprint analysis, and other material evidence. Both sides must also provide a written list of all expert reports and the witnesses they intend to call at trial, with provisions to protect the identity of confidential informants.

“If at any time during the pendency of the case it is brought to the attention of the court that a party has failed to comply with this Rule or with an order issued pursuant to this Rule, the court shall order such party to permit the discovery or inspection of materials not previously disclosed,” the new, long-overdue rule states.

Reforms to the criminal discovery process were proposed by the Virginia State Bar’s Indigent Defense Task Force in 2013. The following year, the court’s 29-member Special Committee on Criminal Discovery Rules produced a 60-page report urging the changes, which Virginia Supreme Court justices refused to adopt. Attempts to enact the discovery reforms legislatively failed twice, in 2016 and 2017.

Finally, a task force headed by Virginia State Bar President Michael Robinson unanimously urged the state’s high court to consider the changes, which the court approved on Aug. 28. The new discovery rules will go into effect on July 1, 2019, giving prosecutors ample time to adjust.

“Criminal discovery reform is a complex matter, and while there is not 100 percent agreement on all issues, this proposal has significant support from the numerous stakeholders involved in the criminal discovery process,” Lemons wrote, acknowledging that the new rules will make “increased demands on prosecutors.”

But Richmond lawyer Steven Benjamin, who served as past president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, told the Roanoke Times that “any improvement to Virginia’s strict discovery rules is to be commended and is in the public’s best interest.”

Most Virginians do not know that if they are charged with a felony, they have no legal right to the contents of police reports or even to know in advance which witnesses the state intends to call to testify against them. Although most prosecutors in the commonwealth voluntary share such information with defense attorneys, it is not required.

But defendants charged with crimes and in danger of losing their liberty should have complete access to all the evidence the state has against them—including information contained in a police report—in order to allow them to prepare an adequate defense. The fact that some defendants in Virginia have been denied what most Americans consider to be a basic constitutional right is appalling, as is the fact that the state Supreme Court took so long to make full pre-trial discovery mandatory.

Transparency is not just a catchphrase. Just as secrecy erodes the public’s confidence in government, including the criminal justice system, full disclosure strengthens it. Prosecutors may lose a case or two under the new pre-trial discovery rules, but the commonwealth will be the better for it.