Ken Cuccinelli Successful During Special Session

Last month I described how Ken Cuccinelli called for a special session of the General Assembly to deal with a recent Supreme Court decision. After being accused of making political stunts, Tim Kaine eventually sided with Ken over Steve Shannon and called the special session. The session occurred yesterday, and in one day the solution bill that Ken introduced was passed through both houses of the general assembly.

Special Session

Successful;

Legislature Follows

Cuccinelli's Lead

RICHMOND - Today, Virginia's General Assembly passed legislation requested by Senator Ken Cuccinelli to address the problems created by the ruling of the United States Supreme Court in Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts.

Sen. Cuccinelli remarked, "I would like to thank my colleagues in the General Assembly and Governor Kaine for working together to solve this issue quickly." Sen. Cuccinelli added, "Across the Commonwealth, drunk drivers were getting off scott free - this was a public safety issue, and we were able to address it with today's legislation."

On June 25th, the Supreme Court ruled in Melendez that prosecutors could not require defendants to call lab technicians to testify in drug and DUI prosecutions, as this shifted the burden from the prosecution to the defense to produce witnesses in a criminal case. This decision resulted in an explosion of defense subpoenas for lab technicians - threatening to overwhelm the department of forensic sciences and prosecutors across Virginia, thereby causing the dismissal of drug and DUI cases. This decision forced prosecutors to suspend drug and drunk driver cases and caused a bottleneck in Virginia's criminal justice system.

Commonwealth's Attorneys from all over Virginia were severely concerned over the situation and were scrambling for a fix to the problem.

After consulting with Virginia prosecutors and law enforcement, Sen. Cuccinelli was the first to pose a solution to the Melendez problem, and in a letter to Governor Kaine, called for a Special Session on July 9th, just two weeks after the ruling. On July 22nd, Governor Kaine announced during a press conference that a legislative fix would be needed and called the legislature into session.

On July 10th, Democrat Candidate for Attorney General and House of Delegates Member, Steve Shannon called Sen. Cuccinelli's request for a legislative fix a "political stunt," and said an administrative fix was all that was needed. Shannon was rebuked by Commonwealth's Attorneys and even by the Governor.

Governor Kaine endorsed Cuccinelli's approach, noting that "legislative action" was necessary to solve the problems posed by Melendez.

Shannon voted for Cuccinelli's legislation, despite his early and loud opposition to resolving this issue through legislation.

"I'd like to thank Steve for voting for my 'legislative fix'," said Sen. Cuccinelli. "I'm glad Steve and others changed their mind and recognized that my urgent request over a month ago was indeed not a political stunt." Sen. Cuccinelli added, "I will continue working alongside law enforcement and Commonwealth's Attorneys to make sure that this fix has the intended effect - to stop drunk drivers, and drug offenders, from going free due to Melendez."

Sen. Cuccinelli also noted that he looked forward to addressing other approaches to alleviate the Melendez problem, such as live video transmissions from lab technicians. "I just hoping I'm doing it as Attorney General, not as a State Senator," Sen. Cuccinelli concluded.

Senator Cuccinelli was one of five members on the Courts of Justice Sub-Committee which crafted this legi

A Metaphor for Government-run Healthcare

I thought this was a very well done story of what will happen as a result of Obama's healthcare proposal.

Socialized Healthcare=More Taxpayer Funded Abortions

Mike Huckabee summed up one of the greatest moral concerns with the Democrat health care proposal. If this bill is passed, more abortions will be funded by our tax dollars.

Barack Obama is the Same as George Bush on Wiretapping

But the world looks just the same
And history ain't changed
'Cause the banners, they all flown in the last war

Looks like AT&T can relax. Back in 2006, the Electronic Frontier Foundation filed a class action lawsuit, Hepting v. AT&T, against the communications giant. The suit accused AT&T of,

violating the law and the privacy of its customers by collaborating with the National Security Agency (NSA) in its massive, illegal program to wiretap and data-mine Americans' communications.

That case was dismissed in June of 2009 after a federal judge ruled that AT&T and other telecommunications companies were free of liability under the FISA Amendments Act, signed by George W. Bush in September of 2008.

In response, the EFF filed Jewel v. NSA stating that,

In Jewel v. NSA, EFF is suing the NSA and other government agencies on behalf of AT&T customers to stop the illegal, unconstitutional, and ongoing dragnet surveillance of their communications and communications records.

Although not the subject of this suit, you could understand if AT&T felt a bit nervous about the outcome: the Bush era wiretapping program is still in effect, a succesful lawsuit will put their past and current activities under scrutiny, and they had no reason to expect the new adminstration would have their back. (As a candidate, President Obama promised "no more wiretapping of American citizens.")

Not to worry, though. In a San Franciso courtroom last Wednesday, the Obama administration moved to dismiss the lawsuit using essentially the same arguments marshalled by the Bush administration. They even kicked the defense up a notch with a claim of "sovereign immunity." Judge Vaughn Walker will rule on the case in coming months. But for now, telcos can rest easy knowing that - at least when it comes to surveillance - the new boss is the same as the old boss.

(Crossposted from Business Security Blog.)

Tim Kaine Agrees With Ken Cuccinelli, Decides to Call Special Session

One of the biggest stories in the Attorney General's race is Ken Cuccinelli's call for a special session to deal with the Melendez-Diaz v. Massacheusetts decision. While Shannon thought Cuccinelli was going to far, and wanted Kaine to find an administrative solution, it now appears that Tim Kaine agrees with Ken Cuccinelli.

The AP is reporting that a Virginia lawmaker says Kaine will call a special session to deal with the issue later today.

RICHMOND, Va. - A Virginia lawmaker says Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine will call a special session to deal with a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that's having repercussions in the state's courts.

The legislator spoke on the condition of anonymity Tuesday night because he was not authorized to pre-empt the governor's announcement. Kaine has scheduled a news conference for Wednesday, but his office says only that he will make two public safety announcements.

A second legislator, House Democratic Leader Ward Armstrong of Henry County, said Kaine has told him he's leaning toward calling a special session.

The announcement is expected to take place sometime later today.

Cuccinelli was the person who realized how important this issue. He accurately predicted DUI cases would be dismissed, and made the difficult but correct decision. Once again he has stood up for what is best for Virginians, even if it may be politically difficult. Kaine's decision to side with a candidate from the opposite party over his own candidate for Attorney General means that he realized administrative solutions were impossible, and the special session is what is necessary to fix this problem. His actions will validate Cuccinelli's foresight, and accurate understanding of the law.

(Cross posted at Off the Trunk, and Bloggers for Ken Cuccinelli.)