Another Reason to Respect Ken Cuccinelli

Ken Cuccinelli really believes the law is about justice, so when new DNA evidence showed another man committed the crime that jailed Thomas Haynesworth, he went to bat for the imprisoned man. Read the excerpt from the Washington Times article below and click on the headline for the full story. It's well worth your time.

Keene: Justice delayed shouldn’t be justice denied
Exoneration of the innocent is a paramount act of conscience

Last week, the mid-Atlantic Innocence Project (exonerate.org) hosted a lunch to honor two very different men. One is black. The other is white. One has served 27 years in Virginia prisons for crimes he didn’t commit. The other is Virginia’s chief law enforcement official.

Their story began one evening in 1984, when 18-year-old Thomas Haynesworth went to a Richmond store to buy sweet potatoes for his mother. He’d never been in trouble, but as he left the store, a rape victim spotted him, called the police and mistakenly identified him as her attacker. Mr. Haynesworth was quickly arrested, jailed, tried, convicted of raping three women, sentenced to 84 years, hustled off to a state penitentiary and promptly forgotten....


Fortunately for Mr. Haynesworth, Mr. Cuccinelli is one attorney general who believes that while our criminal justice system works pretty well most of the time, it isn’t perfect. “We have to remember” he told his audience last week, “it was designed by human beings and is staffed by human beings, who sometimes make mistakes.” This simple and obvious fact, he argues, means those working within the system have an obligation to keep in mind the possibility that mistakes might be made and do all they can to rectify them when they occur.

Background Story on one of my favorite politicians, Ken Cuccinelli

Honesty and integrity aren't adjectives that come to mind with most politicians. But there are a few and Ken Cuccinelli, Attorney General of Virginia, is one of them. Father of seven and husband of home schooling mom, Teiro, Ken brings hope for positive change, unlike those who talk about change and bring destruction. Here's a great snapshot of Ken from the "ultimate insider," his wife Teiro.

Dear Friends,  

For the first few years of our marriage, Ken was politically active every year, helping Republican candidates throughout the state in any way he could.

My little window into the world of politics (from before we were married) had a rather negative perspective at the time, so I wanted to keep everything political at arms length. I am ashamed to say that I went so far as to tell Ken, "You can help other candidates, but don't ever think about running for office, because I have no interest in being a political wife!"

Virginia's Rising Star, Ken Cuccinelli, Addresses RightOnline

Attorney General of Virginia, Ken Cuccinelli, demonstrates the move toward states' rights and gives me a lot of hope. Go, Ken!

A few salient points made during his talk:

"Americans, Virginians, are waking up to what's happening to their country."

"Federalism is reemerging."

The Virginia case against forcing people to engage in commerce by buying health care is "about liberty not health care."

"The only science [of global warming] is political science."

"It is a huge economic advantage [to be a right to work state]."

"Freedom is breaking out everywhere."

On the lawsuit against EPA. "We are pushing back on the Federal Government on other fronts....When I send [the EPA] a letter saying 'If you do this, I'm going to sue you,' they believe me."

"[Federal Government agencies] have violated their own federral laws numerous times....the NRLB, the Office of Surface Mining, the EPA, the EPA, the EPA over and over."

"They've showed utter disdain for the one institution...that is supposed to be the neutral referee of all these contests, [the courts]....For the President of the U.S. and his administration to so completely and across the board attack the rule of law itself is unprecedented in our lifetimes....It's hard to overstate the historical importance of that."

"When the Founders set up the federal government, it wasn't the states they were worried about. And, boy, were they right!"

"The long-term battle is changing hearts and minds."

Pray for Ken and his wife Tiero. They have seven beautiful children so is it any wonder he gets choked up at the end of this powerful presentation when he quotes Ronald Reagan about the legacy we will leave our children.

God bless you, Ken, and may Virginia lead the second revolution to free America from a tyranical government. Sic Semper Tyrannis.

Great Pro-Life Champion!

Virginia is the birthplace of liberty and we have some great politicians fighting for the re-birth of this great nation. Here's one of them.

Virginia Attorney General is Rising Pro-Life Star

Virginia Patriot Puts Pelosi on Notice about "Improper Purpose" in Applying Article I of Constitution

I picked this picture of Ken Cuccinelli because it reminds me of mild-mannered Clark Kent who is really Superman in disguise. And Ken is acting like the man of steel as he stands up to the forces of evil pushing all kinds of unconstitutional endeavors on the people of Gotham (and Broadway, and Richmond, and Arlington, and Alexandria and Woodstock, and VA Beach, and Roanoke, etc., etc.)

The article below shows just how much grit and gristle operates in this tough-minded patriot.

Go, Ken, go! This effort ties you up with my other favorite politician, Bob Marshall. (I know Bob won't mind.)


From the Washington Post, Virginia Politics, March 17, 2010

Cuccinelli's office confirms Virginia will sue over health care


A spokesman for Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II (R) said this afternoon that Virginia will file suit against the federal government if the Democratic health care reform bill is approved by the U.S. Congress.

Cuccinelli has long said he was examining the legal issues and suggested he would likely file suit. Brian Gottstein, a spokesman for the office, said this afternoon that a lawsuit is now a definite. Gottstein would provide no details of the legal rationale for such a suit, indicating the process is "still being worked out."

Virginia last week became the first state in the country to pass a state bill declaring it illegal for the government to require individuals to purchase health insurance, a key part of bills under consideration on Capitol Hill.

We are also expecting to receive a letter shortly that Cuccinelli is sending to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) warning her that using the so-called "deem and pass" procedure to pass the Senate health reform bill in the House would open the measure to additional constitutional challenges from the states.

UPDATE: We've received a copy of Cuccinelli's letter to Pelosi. In it, he writes: "Should you employ the deem and pass tactic, you expose any act which may pass to yet another constitutional challenge."

The full letter is included after the jump.

March 17, 2010
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
Office of the Speaker H-232
U.S. Capitol
Washington, D.C.

Dear Speaker Pelosi:

   I am writing to urge you not to proceed with the Senate Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act under a so-called "deem and pass" rule because such a course of action would raise grave constitutional questions. Based upon media interviews and statements which I have seen, you are considering this approach because it might somehow shield members of Congress from taking a recorded vote on an overwhelmingly unpopular Senate bill. This is an improper purpose under the bicameralism requirements of Article I, Section 7 of the U.S. Constitution, one of the purposes of which is to make our representatives fully accountable for their votes. Furthermore, to be validly enacted, the Senate bill would have to be accepted by the House in a form that is word-for-word identical (Clinton v. City of New York, 524 U.S. 417 (1998)). Should you employ the deem and pass tactic, you expose any act which may pass to yet another constitutional challenge. A bill of this magnitude should not be passed using this maneuver. As the President noted last week, the American people are entitled to an up or down vote.

Sincerely,

Kenneth T. Cuccinelli, II
Attorney General of Virginia

Virginia is once again the cradle of liberty. Sic Semper Tyrannis!

"Do federal politicians who may vote for Obamacare stand with the people and the Constitution? Virginians are saying 'no' on a bi-partisan basis."

Read Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's op-ed in the Washington Examiner. Virginia, the birthplace of the Constitution, is rebirthing America's liberties.

(Thanks to Shak Hill for alerting me to this great article!)