AG backs effort to clarify state gambling laws

Chris Graham

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli today announced his support for new legislation which clarifies Virginia’s gambling laws. Questions about the law arose in 2010 when a number of Internet gambling businesses started to appear around the Commonwealth. Companion bills, House Bill 1700 and Senate Bill 1195, patroned by Del. Clay Athey (R-Front Royal) and Sen….

Proposed cut of FOIA Council: Is it worth the trouble?

Chris Graham

There’s a saying about using a sledgehammer to kill a gnat that comes to mind with the recommendation of the Governor’s Commission on Government Reform and Restructuring to eliminate the Freedom of Information Act Advisory Council as a cost-saving move. The line item in the 2010-2012 state budget for the Council, a resource for the…

The umpire strikes back

Chris Graham

It didn’t take me doing the quick bio check on Henry Hudson to figure out his political proclivities. (For the record, Hudson, the judge who ruled Monday that the purchase mandate that is key to the implementation of the health-care reform signed into law in March, was appointed to the federal bench by George W….

Cuccinelli opinion sparks debate on documents for drivers licenses

Chris Graham

Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli issued an official opinion last week informing the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles that it is not required to accept federal work permit cards as proof of lawful presence in the United States for the purpose of issuing a driver’s license, permit, or special identification card. The Cuccinelli opinion was highlighted…

Cuccinelli back at it again on climate-change issue

Chris Graham

Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli announced today that his office has reissued a civil investigative demand to the University of Virginia related to research conducted by former UVa. professor Michael Mann into global climate change. The new CID has been drafted to comply with a judge’s ruling that had set aside an earlier CID attempt by…

McDonnell: Concerns over reliability of federal documents leads to suspension

Chris Graham

Gov. Bob McDonnell announced today that the Department of Motor Vehicles will suspend acceptance of the federally-issued Employment Authorization Document (I-766) as proof of legal presence in the United States, a condition of obtaining a driver’s license or identification card in Virginia. The action, according to the governor’s office, is the result of concerns over…

WhenVirginiaWasBlue.com: Dems-Virginia taxpayers ‘real victims’ of Cuccinelli activism

Democratic Party of Virginia chair Dick Cranwell spoke out on Tuesday on the ruling by an Albemarle County judge on a request for information made by Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli related to climate-change research by a former University of Virginia professor. “I was glad to see this ideological crusade by Mr. Cuccinelli dismissed by Judge…

Judge blocks Cuccinelli climate-change investigation

Chris Graham

An Albemarle County judge has blocked Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s first effort to require the University of Virginia to turn over documents related to a former professor’s research on climate change. The ruling was handed down on Monday, and Cuccinelli’s office responded with a comment attributed to the Republican promising that he will tailor a…

Cuccinelli opinion pushes abortion clinics to the brink

Chris Graham

Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli has issued a legal opinion that there is authority in state law to place greater restrictions on abortion clinics. The opinion, issued late Friday, says the state “has the authority to promulgate regulations for facilities in which first trimester abortions are performed, as well as for providers of first trimester abortions,…

Ken Plum: Enforcing immigration laws

Ken Plum

With the wide publicity the Arizona law has received requiring police to question people if there is reason to suspect they are in the United States illegally, the Police Foundation distributed to state legislators the results of a study it had conducted on the issue. As the president of the Foundation explained in his transmittal…