Showing posts with label Attorney general. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Attorney general. Show all posts

Friday, November 21, 2014

Governor McAuliffe Statement on Campus Sexual Violence

Sex and Violence (album)
Sex and Violence (album) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
RICHMOND – I was deeply disturbed to read about the sexual assault allegations outlined in Rolling Stone magazine. Sexual violence is a nationwide problem, and it is critical that our schools acknowledge that this is a pervasive issue and take bold action to end it. 

Earlier today, I spoke to the university leadership and conveyed my deep concerns with what has been reported. We are in agreement that a full and fair investigation must be pursued, and I have called for a zero tolerance strategy to combat campus sexual assault. I have asked university officials to conduct a full review of all of their policies and procedures and if decided, to bring in outside experts to assist in this effort. 

We must also find ways that our local law enforcement and prosecution efforts can better align with university actions. Earlier this year, I signed Executive Order 25 establishing the Governor’s Task Force on Combating Campus Sexual Violence, sending a message that Virginia will not tolerate sexual violence on our campuses or in our communities. Now is the time to act — we must ensure that survivors are treated with the dignity and respect they deserve, and we must do more to hold perpetrators accountable.

As the parents of five children, this is an issue Dorothy and I care deeply about.  I look forward to seeing strong recommendations from the task force that will help keep more Virginians safe and ensure that our students are free from the threat of sexual violence. 

(Never mind the fact that we promote sexual violence in every aspect of our society.  You are not supposed to act on what we teach you.)

{Anyone getting a kick out of the news source Terry McAuliffe uses?  Rolling Stones magazine?  Does he also get news from High Times magazine?}

Governor McAuliffe Signs Executive Order Establishing Commonwealth Council on Bridging the Nutritional Divide

RICHMOND – Today, Governor Terry McAuliffe signed an executive order establishing the Commonwealth Council on Bridging the Nutritional Divide, which will be chaired by First Lady Dorothy McAuliffe.

“A critical component in building a new Virginia economy is ensuring that no Virginia child or family goes hungry,” said Governor McAuliffe. “By using the assets unique to Virginia, we can bridge this nutritional divide, put more Virginians on pathways to success, and at the same time grow our local agriculture economies. I look forward to the great work the Council will do to benefit our communities and all Virginia children and families. “

“With the formation of this council, we are making clear our belief that, in order to cultivate and sustain economic success, all Virginians must have access to nutritious foods that will enable them to learn, grow, and thrive,” said First Lady Dorothy McAuliffe. “With the formation of this Council we’re saying enough with the tightrope, now we start building a bridge.”

The Commonwealth Council on Bridging the Nutritional Divide will work to help solve childhood hunger in the Commonwealth, promote Virginia’s agriculture economy, and support local programs related to community nutrition, food access, and health strategies. 

The Council will include representatives from both the McAuliffe administration and the private sector. This public-private partnership will be tasked with finding innovative ways to ensure that Virginia pursues new opportunities, as well as every federal dollar and program currently available that promotes healthy living, nutrition, and our local food programs. 

The full text of Executive Order 34 is below.

NUMBER THIRTY FOUR (2014)

THE COMMONWEALTH COUNCIL ON
BRIDGING THE NUTRITIONAL DIVIDE

Importance of the Initiative

            The foundation for a new Virginia economy rests upon the pillars of a world-class education system, infrastructure, business climate, and workforce. In order to cultivate and sustain economic success, all Virginians, especially children and young adults, must have access to nutritious, affordable, and locally-sourced foods that will enable them to learn, grow, and thrive. We must work to bridge the nutritional divide in Virginia by pursuing these objectives with a cross-Secretariat, public-private approach, relying on the Commonwealth’s vast resources and the vibrancy of our large agriculture sector.

Establishment of the Council

            Accordingly, by virtue of the authority vested in me as Governor under Article V of the Constitution of Virginia and under the laws of the Commonwealth, and subject to my continuing and ultimate authority and responsibility to act in such matters, I hereby establish the Commonwealth Council on Bridging the Nutritional Divide (“Council”).

Initiative

            The Council will seek to achieve three major objectives through partnerships across the Governor’s Cabinet, with state agencies, national, regional, and local nonprofits, local governments, schools, and private businesses, and with increased data sharing and research:

1.      Eliminate childhood hunger in Virginia by increasing participation in nutrition assistance programs:

·       Increase school division and community participation in a) the Community Eligibility Provision, b) the Summer Food Service Program, c) the Child and Adult Care Food Program, d) alternative breakfast models, and e) additional pathways to expand meal access as determined by the Council.
·       Increase eligible household participation in the Special Supplemental Nutrition  Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)

2.      Promote Virginia’s leading industry – agriculture – and increase access to affordable, healthy, and local foods:

·       Improve food distribution systems to better serve a diversifying Virginia agricultural economy
·       Improve accessibility to farmers’ markets
·       Increase acceptance of SNAP/Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) and WIC/EBT at farmers’ markets
·       Encourage the development of innovative and sustainable retail models to provide access to healthy foods in areas classified as food deserts
·       Increase farm-to-school and other farm-to-institution programs

3.      Facilitate efficient and effective local initiatives related to community nutrition, food access, and health strategies and programs across the Commonwealth:

·       Support the development of regional agricultural councils, nutrition education programs, and additional community and learning gardens
·       Serve as a communications hub for initiatives and convener of partners, and recognize and promote innovative local programs, that align with the council’s mission

Composition of the Council

            The Chair of the Council will be the First Lady of Virginia and consist of representatives of the Secretaries of Agriculture and Forestry, Commerce and Trade, Education, Health and Human Resources, Veterans and Defense Affairs, state and local agencies, the agriculture and business communities, leaders in education and health, and others with appropriate expertise, as appointed by the Governor.

Staffing

Staff support for the Council will be provided by the Office of the Governor, and any other agencies or offices as may be designated by the Governor. The Council will serve in an advisory role, in accordance with § 2.2-2100 of the Code of Virginia, and will meet upon the call of the Chair at least four times per year.

Accountability

The Council shall develop a three-year plan to achieve its objectives and shall regularly report to the Governor and the Children’s Cabinet. The plan shall include quantifiable metrics and associated goals for each objective, and progress toward achieving these goals shall be made available to the public via an online scorecard.

Effective Date of the Executive Order

This Executive Order shall be effective upon its signing and shall remain in force and effect until January 12, 2018, unless amended or rescinded by further executive order.

Given under my hand and under the Seal of the Commonwealth of Virginia, this 20th day of November, 2014.





Terence R. McAuliffe, Governor






Attest:             _______________________________________
                        Levar M. Stoney, Secretary of the Commonwealth




(Now does this sound good?  It does until you realize that it may just mean the government takeover of local farmers markets and farmers.  But you don't think this could ever happen now do you?  Or could it?  Stick around and find out.)

Friday, October 3, 2014

Governor McAuliffe and Attorney General Herring Announce Agenda for Virginia Heroin and Prescription Drug Summit

Police State 2- The Takeover
Police State 2- The Takeover (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Beware The Coming Police State:

Governor McAuliffe and Attorney General Herring today released the full agenda for the Virginia Heroin and Prescription Drug Summit, to be held on October 2, 2014 in Charlottesville, and hosted by Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security Brian Moran and Attorney General Mark Herring. The summit will include law enforcement representatives from the local, state, and federal levels, and will feature Michael Botticelli, the Acting Director, Office of National Drug Control Policy, as the keynote speaker.

Director Botticelli has more than two decades of experience supporting Americans who have been affected by substance use disorders.  Prior to joining ONDCP, Mr. Botticelli served as Director of the Bureau of Substance Abuse Services at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, where he successfully expanded innovative and nationally recognized prevention, intervention, treatment, and recovery services for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. During the summit, Director Botticelli will discuss the federal government’s role in working with localities to reduce drug trafficking and abuse, and resources available to combat this issue.

The Virginia Heroin and Prescription Drug Summit is held by the Virginia Office of Public Safety and Homeland Security and the Office of the Attorney General, with the goal of addressing the  growing and dangerous epidemic of prescription opioid and heroin abuse in the Commonwealth. Governor McAuliffe also recently signed Executive Order 29, establishing the Governor’s Task Force on Prescription Drug and Heroin Abuse, co-chaired by Secretary of Health and Human Resources Bill Hazel, and Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security Brian Moran. The order asked the task force to suggest strategies that will raise public awareness about the dangers of misuse and abuse of prescription drugs, train health care providers on best practices for pain management, identify treatment options and alternatives to incarceration for people with addiction, and promote the safe storage and disposal of prescription drugs. The recommendations outlined and issues discussed in the Charlottesville summit will be factored into the overall recommendations by the task force.

The full agenda is below.

Virginia Heroin and Prescription Drug Summit

October 2, 2014

Charlottesville Doubletree Hotel

AGENDA

8:30 a.m.         Opening Remarks           

                        The Honorable Brian Moran
                        Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security
                               
            The Honorable Mark Herring
            Attorney General            

9:00 a.m.          Plenary Session
Personal Impact: Stories of Tragedy and Survival
               
Moderator:        Phillip Figura
Assistant Attorney General

Panelists:
Teresa Nelson, Stephens City, Virginia
Carolyn Weems, Virginia Beach, Virginia
Honesty Brackett Liller, Richmond, Virginia


10:30 a.m.       Plenary Session                                                                                               
Heroin by the Numbers: Data in Virginia
                               
Moderator:        Victoria Cochran
Deputy Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security

Panelists:
William Gormley, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Medical Examiner, Virginia Department of Health
Linda Jackson, Director, Virginia Department of Forensic Science
Jayne Thatcher, Ph.D., Toxicology Group SupervisorVirginia Department of Forensic Science
Mellie Randall, Director, Office of Substance Abuse Services, Virginia Department of Behavioral Health & Developmental Services
Captain Gary Settle, Division Commander, Virginia State Police, Culpeper Field Office
Gregory Cherundolo, Assistant Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration


12:15 p.m.        Keynote Speaker:           
The Honorable Michael Botticelli
Acting Director, Office of National Drug Control Policy
                               
1:00 p.m.          Director Botticelli, Attorney General Herring, and Secretary Moran media availability

1:15 p.m.          Plenary Session
Policy and Legislation: Strategies for Virginia
                               
Moderator:        Marc Birnbaum
Assistant Attorney General

Panelists:
The Honorable Timothy Heaphy, U.S. Attorney, Western District of Virginia
Tonya Vincent, Deputy Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security  
The Honorable Nancy Parr, Commonwealth’s Attorney, City of Chesapeake
Chief Timothy Longo, Sr., Charlottesville Police Department
The Honorable Timothy Carter, Sheriff, Shenandoah County and Chairman, Northwest Virginia Regional Drug/Gang Task Force

2:30 p.m.         Regional Breakout Sessions

4:00 p.m.         Regional Reports and Recommendations                                            
                               
4:30 p.m.         Adjourn

Thursday, October 2, 2014

Virginia Governor and Attorney General Thumb Nose At State Constitution

3 girls kissing.
3 girls kissing. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 5129
Offered June 19, 2014
Directing the Speaker of the House of Delegates to appoint counsel in the court in whichBostic v. Rainey is pending to permit the General Assembly to intervene and defend vigorously the constitutionality of Article I, Section 15-A in such court and in all other proceedings in any other court.


----------
Patron-- Marshall, R.G.
----------
Committee Referral Pending
----------
WHEREAS, the plaintiffs in Bostic v. Rainey (Bostic),  now pending in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, attack the constitutionality of Article I, Section 15-A of the Constitution of Virginia; and

WHEREAS, engagement of special counsel in Bostic is necessary because Mark R. Herring, the Attorney General of Virginia, without legal  authority and without precedent, not only ceased defending the validity of Article I, Section 15-A but joined the plaintiffs in convincing the trial judge to hold that Article I, Section 15-A was unconstitutional; and

WHEREAS, engagement of special counsel in Bostic is also necessary because the Governor of Virginia, violating his constitutional obligation under Article V, § 7 of the Constitution of Virginia to ensure that the laws of the Commonwealth be faithfully executed,  has refused to exercise the authority granted to him by § 2.2-510 of the Code of Virginia to employ special counsel to defend the constitutionality of Article I, Section 15-A of the Constitution of Virginia; and

WHEREAS, the case of INS v. Chada, 462 U.S. 919 (1983), involved a situation analogous to that involved in Bostic in which the United States House of Representatives and Senate successfully intervened, and the United States Supreme Court stated that Congress is the proper party to defend the validity of a statute when an agency of government, as a defendant charged with enforcing the statute, agrees with plaintiffs that the statute is inapplicable or unconstitutional; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the Speaker of the House of Delegates engage special legal counsel to move the court in which Bostic v. Raineyis pending to permit the General Assembly to intervene and defend vigorously the constitutionality of Article I, Section 15-A in such court and in all other proceedings in any other court.

(The Governor and the Attorney General both took oaths of office and in that oath, swore to uphold the Constitution of Virginia.  Neither one of them is willing to do so and if they are not willing to do so here, what other areas are they going to destroy?  What laws are they willing to break to get their way?  Why are Virginians allowing this?  In a democratic republic, the people decide.  That decision was already made by the people.  Now these two clowns are doing everything they can to destroy the state Constitution.  They both need to be thrown out of office once and for all.  They are no friends to "WE THE PEOPLE", but instead they are political terrorists!)

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Virginia Attorney General; Private Law Firm For State Officials Only?

This was recently sent to us by one of our readers.  It shows something rather disturbing and it comes straight out of the Virginia Attorney General, Mark Herring's, office.  We are reprinting the message below.

Thank you for contacting the office of Attorney General Mark Herring.  We appreciate your taking the time to write to our office.

            The Office of the Attorney General functions as the law firm for state government and does not provide legal advice to private individuals.  The Office advises state officials and represents the various state agencies and departments, as well as renders opinions at the request of state officials.  Due to statutory restrictions, conflict of interest rules and other policy considerations, we are unable to render private legal advice or otherwise assist citizens in legal matters. 

            Having said this and after further review of your letter, I regret that this Office does not have the jurisdiction to assist in this matter.  I encourage you to reach out to the Virginia State Police for assistance with this investigation.

            If our office can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Sincerely,
Director of Constituent Service

The name of the reader that this was addressed to has been removed.  Now this is where it gets interesting.  The reason for the contact had nothing to do with asking for legal advice.  It asked specifically for an investigation into interstate fraud.  Looking at the statement coming out of Mr Herring's office, it would seem that the statement made is that the Attorney General's office here in the state of Virginia is to serve only as the private law firm for state officials.  

Let's take a look back in time to about the year 1902.  We are going to quote straight from a text book that was written about the Virginia Constitution.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL.
 Elected. By the people for four years. Salary, $2,500 and mileage. Duties. Shall give his opinion and advice when required to do so by the Governor, or by any of the public boards and officers at the seat of government; shall appear as counsel for the State in all cases in which the commonwealth is interested, depending in the Supreme Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court of the United States, the District and Circuit Courts of the United States for the State of Virginia, and shall discharge such other duties as may be imposed by the General Assembly.

 Member of the State Board of Education. An attorney is a person who acts for and in the place of another. The word is usually applied to a lawyer who is employed by another to act for him in any law business he wishes to have done. An attorney who appears in a court of law and acts or defends a person, or acts against a person accused of crime, is called a counsel.

 The attorney-general is a lawyer who is elected to do law business for the State. He must appear in court as counsel for the State in every case in which the commonwealth (meaning the whole people) is interested. The commonwealth is interested in every case of crime, because it is for the interest or well-being of the people that those who commit crime should be punished. If this were not done— if criminals, persons who commit murder or burglary or theft—were not arrested and punished, no man's life or property would be safe. The attorney-general must appear and act for the commonwealth in any of the courts above mentioned whenever there is a case in any of them in which the people of the State are interested.

Now maybe this is why we have Commonwealth attorneys throughout the state.  But it does not answer why this office should not be looking into any issues of Interstate fraud. 



Civil Government of Virginia, Constitutional Law from Chuck Thompson

This is the book where that information has been taken from.  See page 25 of the above book for that quote.

Let's now look at what the online information says about the duties and responsibilities of the Virginia Attorney General.

Duties

The duties and powers of the office of the attorney general include:[1]
  • Provide legal advice and representation to the Governor and executive agencies, state boards and commissions, and institutions of higher education. The advice commonly includes help with personnel issues, contracts, purchasing, regulatory and real estate matters and the review of proposed legislation. The Office also represents those agencies in court.
  • Provide written legal advice in the form of official opinions to members of the General Assembly and government officials.
  • Defend criminal convictions on appeal, and defend the state when prisoners sue concerning their incarceration.
  • Defend the constitutionality of state laws when they are challenged in court.
  • Enforce state laws that protect businesses and consumers when there are violations. Individual consumer complaints are usually handled by another agency.
  • Represent consumers in utility matters before the State Corporation Commission.
  • Collect debts owed to state agencies, hospitals and universities.
  • Conduct or assist criminal investigations and prosecutions in certain limited cases (for example Medicaid fraud, money laundering, theft of state property, environmental crimes, and computer crimes).
  • Represent the Department of Social Services in its efforts to collect child support on behalf of children and families.
  • Supervise the appointment and payment of private attorneys hired by other state agencies for various matters.
  • Assist victims of crime who are following criminal cases at the appellate level.
  • Provide information to the public on Identity Theft prevention and remediation.
  • Administer grants to help reduce crimes involving gangs, drugs and sex predators.
  • Administer the Sexually Violent Predator Civil Commitment Program to protect children from the most dangerous predators.
A complete list of the duties of the office is outlined in the Virginia state code.[2]

The above comes from this website.

But our present Virginia state Constitution says as follows;

Section 2. People the source of power.

That all power is vested in, and consequently derived from, the people, that magistrates are their trustees and servants, and at all times amenable to them.

The Virginia Attorney General is an elected official.  That means he is a servant of the people, not the private law firm for state officials only.  Yet as we move more to a total socialist nation, we are seeing that the term elected official no longer has any real meaning to it other than our rights no longer exist.  It's right there in the history before your eyes.  One could argue that society has become more complex and therefore the need to limit powers to this office is much needed.  It's an argument that does not stand.  More complex than what?  It's always been complex.  The bottom line is this, that answer that came out of Mark Herring's office is unacceptable.  At the very least, a contact person should have been setup for the person and the information passed on to the office recommended.  It was not.  Why?  Was his office trying to send the person who contacted them on some kind of wild goose chase and good luck, don't come back situation?  

  Did someone just decide they did not want to do something that resembled work?  Imagine.