Author: sherlockj
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Part IV – Herring’s LCPS Determination and the Constitution
by James C. Sherlock We have in this series explored the case In Re: Final Determination of the Office of Attorney General Division of Human Rights in DHR Case No.: 19-2652, NAACP Loudoun Branch v. Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS). This non-judicial investigation and determination has made famous: the new law, Subdivision B 2 of §…
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Shortage of Health Facilities Inspectors Puts All Virginians at Risk
by James C. Sherlock I have been the single fiercest public critic of the Virginia Department of Health in general and its Office of Licensure and Certification (OLC) in particular. I have been particularly critical of OLC’s inspections of nursing homes. We need them to do better, and they agree. This essay will report what…
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Part III – Questions raised by Attorney General Herring’s Loudoun County Schools Determination
by James C. Sherlock The citizens of Loudoun and LCPS need to understand all the implications of the Attorney General’s determination. This essay will offer questions that I sincerely recommend that LCPS pose to the Attorney General in order to get enough information to decide what to do. The AG’s office was given 60 days…
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Herring’s Loudoun County Determination Part II – State-Sponsored Extortion
by James C. Sherlock Part one of two essays on this subject described a new Virginia law, a new Division in the Attorney Generals office, its function as a kangaroo court and its astonishing and sweeping “determination” against Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS). The law requires LCPS to block Asian American kids from the competitively…
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Herring’s Academies of Loudoun Ruling – Part I – Only Cure for Disparate Impact is Fewer Asians
by James C. Sherlock I just finished reading the 61-page “Final Determination of the Office of Attorney General Division of Human Rights in DHR Case No.: 19-2652, NAACP Loudoun Branch v. Loudoun County Public Schools.” The first thing I discovered is that the Democrats in the last session created a kangaroo court within the Attorney…
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The Pick-Your-Expert Game, Virginia Schools Division
by James C. Sherlock A story by Dana Goldstein published in the New York Times on June 30, 2020, illustrates America’s new favorite parlor game: Pick your expert. This essay is hereby entered in the Virginia schools division of the bigger game. Ms. Goldstein wrote: “The American Academy of Pediatrics has a reputation as conservative…
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Belly Flops Make a Splash – Virginia Attacks on School Quality Gain National Attention
by James C. Sherlock The Wall Street Journal featured an op-ed today, the first four words of which were “Attorney General Mark Herring.” No picture of the AG, so I offer one here, but they spelled his name right. so perhaps it will be Senator Herring or President Herring one day soon. Unfortunately, the next…
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A Clear Victory for Civil Liberties
by James C. Sherlock In a speech to the Federalist Society earlier this month, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. said the pandemic “has resulted in previously unimaginable restrictions on individual liberty. This is especially evident with respect to religious liberty. It pains me to say this, but in certain quarters, religious liberty is fast becoming a…
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Virginia Legislators Hear Lies, Smears and Key Omissions in Critical Race Theory-Based Attacks on Schools
by James C. Sherlock I just spent a great deal of time reviewing two Zoom seminars for Virginia legislators on the education committees of the General Assembly planning 2021 legislation. The briefings they got in preparation for the upcoming session were filled with lies, smears, critical omissions and self-referential “data” relative to equity and…
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Mark Herring’s Worst Thanksgiving – Conspiracy Against EVMS may lead to Federal Involvement
by James C. Sherlock Scandals are sometimes overrated. Not this one. I have reported here before on the strange case of the EVMS-ODU merger. I posted here on Nov 1, Nov 2 and Nov 3 with my own concerns on the subject. Many of my assessments came to fruition. On November 13 and 20, the Checks…
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U.S. Supreme Court Must Limit Virginia’s Gubernatorial Authority in Emergencies
by James C. Sherlock Kerry Daugherty, as is her want, posted a particularly compelling essay today. The most important thing Kerry wrote was: “Please let there be another lawsuit. And let it get to the Supreme Court…. Seems only the courts can save us from these tyrants.” She is absolutely right. Article IV of the United…
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Citizen Reporting of Misfeasance or Malfeasance of Virginia Government
by James C. Sherlock I recently published a much commented upon column concerning the governance of Virginia. In it I failed to mention the Office of the State Inspector General (OSIG). The mission of that office is to partner “with other state agencies to serve as a catalyst for positive change by: Facilitating good stewardship…
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Bettina Love at Virginia Tech – a Different Context
by James C. Sherlock A bad penny keeps on turning up. This appearance is however critically different in context from Ms. Love’s appearance at the University of Virginia School of Education. The Tech online get together is for faculty, and I have no problem with that. It represents legitimate academic inquiry. Presumably the audience will…
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Virginia’s Government – a Critique
by James C. Sherlock At the age of 75 with a life of experience in and with government, I will offer here my assessment of the current structural problems in our state government that make that government significantly less efficient and effective than it should be. You will note that these comments generally do…
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A Challenge to the University of Virginia Ed School on the Teaching of K-12 Black Children
by James C. Sherlock I provided an extensive review in this space of the latest book by Dr. Bettina Love, an assistant professor in the education school of the University of Georgia. She advocates separate but equally funded schools for black children and a radically revised curriculum unique to black children. Readers can see in that…