Category: Courts and law
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What E-Cigs Mean for Tobacco-Happy Virginia
By Peter Galuszka A couple of weekends ago, RVA Vapes, brightly lit with colorful lights, held its grand opening in Richmond. It’s one of a rising number of new outlets that cater to “vapers” or people who use electronic cigarettes. There are plenty of such stores, many decorated in a 1960s head shop style from…
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Tar Heel Grief Just Down the Road
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in Business and Economy, Courts and law, Crime, Corrections, Law Enforcement, Demographics, Disasters and Disaster Preparedness, Economic development, Education (higher ed), Education (K-12), Electoral process, Energy, Environment, Federal issues, Government Finance, Government workers and pensions, Health Care, Housing, Infrastructure, Labor and Workforce, Land use & Development, LGBQT, Media, Money in politics, Planning, Politics, Poverty & income gap, Property rights, Public safety & health, Race and Race Relations, Science & Technology, Social Services and Entitlements, Water-waste waterBy Peter Galuszka It’s sad to see two states to which I have personal ties – North Carolina and West Virginia — in such bad ways. The latest raw news comes from the Tar Heel state where we are seeing the handiwork of hard-right- Gov. Pat McCrory who has been on a tear for a…
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Why Virginia’s Gay Marriage Ban Is Toast
By Peter Galuszka It’s happening faster than anyone could have imagined. Virginia’s constitutional ban on gay marriage by defining marriage as only between “a man and a woman” seems heading very rapidly down the hole. That was the upshot from U.S. District Court Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen in Norfolk yesterday. After a two-hour hearing…
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Why Is Anatabloc Still Being Sold?
By Peter Galuszka One real question involving indicted former governor Robert F. McDonnell may well not be the issues about the ethics of public officials he raises. Indeed, according to Forbes and Slate, the real problem is that unregulated dietary supplements that McDonnell was promoting for his former friend and benefactor Jonnie R. Williams Sr. of…
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Message to GOP: Shoe’s On The Other Foot
By Peter Galuszka Not three weeks ago, Newly elected Gov. Terry McAuliffe stood before the Virginia State Capitol and extolled a new era of bipartisanship in Richmond. It doesn’t seem to have lasted very long. Whether by design or chance, a series of events have strengthened the state Democrats’ hand and terrified the Republicans who…
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A Movement to Impeach Mark Herring?
Oh, my, it didn’t take long for Virginia’s new attorney general to spark a constitutional crisis. Bearing Drift has published the draft of a resolution, under consideration by two unnamed General Assembly delegates, to impeach Mark Herring for refusing to defend a provision of the state constitution. Read the resolution here. Money quote: “The nature of…
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McDonnells: Don’t Need “Quid” for “Quo”
By Peter Galuszka How many times have you seen on this blog the comments or headlines regarding the McDonnell case as “No quid for the quo” as if that somehow absolves the former governor and his wife of any legal problems and brings them to automatic innocence? Well, before we all become over-Baconated in amateur…
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In Court With the McDonnells
By Peter Galuszka The courtroom was packed and I ended up in the hallway of Richmond’s fairly new and modern look federal courts building. Inside, history was being made: a bond hearing for Robert F. McDonnell, the first Virginia governor, former or sitting, ever to be charged with misconduct while in office. Inside, U.S. Magistrate…
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AG to Virginia Constitution: Drop Dead
Less than two weeks ago, Attorney General Mark Herring swore to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of Virginia. Apparently, he was crossing his fingers behind his back while taking the oath of office, for he now asserts that Virginia’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage is…. unconstitutional. Not only that, but the AG’s office will…
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The McDonnells and Their Apologists
By Peter Galuszka It seems bizarre to balance news of the worst political corruption scandal in the state’s history and efforts by bloggers and commenters on Bacons Rebellion to dismiss it all as “everyone does it.” The apologia is getting a little too hot and heavy here. One famous blogger wanted to smack former governor…
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A Sad Day for the Commonwealth
By Peter Galuszka It’s a sad day for Virginia. Former Gov. Robert F. McDonnell and his wife have been charged by federal authorities with 14 felony counts, including wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and obtaining property through their office in connection with their relationship with Jonnie R. Williams, former chief of Star Scientific. The…
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McAuliffe’s Ethics End Run
By Peter Galuszka Kudos to Terry McAuliffe. Virginia’s new governor has taken strong and important steps to force the state into much needed ethics reform by issuing an executive order setting a gift acceptance cap of $100 for himself, his staff and members of state agencies. He’s also allocating $100,000 to set up a state…
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Cuccinelli, the NSA and the Pentagon Papers
By Peter Galuszka Tomorrow, Kenneth Cuccinelli leaves office after an intriguing run as attorney general and as a failed Republican gubernatorial candidate. Say what you want about him (I certainly have) but Cuccinelli can never be accused of being boring. So, it seems especially remarkable that his first task after leaving office will be to…
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A Toothless Ethics Proposal (No Surprise)
By Peter Galuszka Virginia finally seems on a path toward toughening its ethics rules after the Giftgate scandal involving Gov. Robert F. McDonnell. but — predictably — the deal reached by the two parties is toothless. The arrangement proposed by a bipartisan group within the General Assembly would cap gifts to officials and their families…
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Are the Feds Going Soft on the McDonnells?
By Peter Galuszka There is something unsettling about Gov. Robert F. McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, being allowed to have a possible indictment on federal criminal charges delayed after senior U.S. Justice Department officials went along with requests from their attorneys. Federal prosecutors reportedly told lawyers for the McDonnells on Dec. 9 that they planned…