Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell will live blog here on Tuesday, August 29, from 6 to 7 pm. Join us for the session. Feel free to leave your questions in this thread.
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Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell will live blog here on Tuesday, August 29, from 6 to 7 pm. Join us for the session. Feel free to leave your questions in this thread.
Comments are closed.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
Mr. McDonnell,
Do you see any ramifications of elevating a particular definition of marriage to the same status as the religious liberty clause in our Bill of Rights, given that some faiths and denominations define marriage more inclusively than others? Would you be willing to champion the repeal of Virginia code that prohibits the performance of a marriage ceremony by a faith leader without benefit of a civil marriage license?
Mr. McDonnell,
No question. Just a warm thank you for your presence in Martinsville.
Bob: Alton, thank you for hosting this conference. This one, along with the one in C’Ville a few months ago, was a great opportunity to meet leaders in the blogging community. Look forward to continuing the dialogue on matters of policy and politics.
Welcome, Mr. McDonnell! I’m looking forward to your answers 😉
Attorney General McDonnell: I know it’s early in their work, but what can you report on the Regulatory and Government Reform Task Force?
Bob: Thus far we’ve announced the mission and general workplan for the Task Force, which will start in September and be a chief focus of my term as Attorney General. We have assembled a great group of leaders in three work groups on small business, healthcare, and agriculture to advise the Task Force. We have already recieved many recommendations on regulations to change or eliminate. I am delighted that Governor Kaine has endorsed our efforts to make Virginia’s regulatory code more fair and coherent. I welcome citizen input on this project, email regreform@oag.state.va.us to make your suggestions, this project will not work without the involvement of the citizens of Virginia
Attorney General McDonnell: Which blogs do you read? What do you think of them? What role will the online community play in the next governor campaign
Bob- Howard, of course I never miss Extreme Mortman! My favorite blogs are the ones that say nice things about me……a little joke there. Actually between my staff and I we regulary peruse just about every blog out there on the right and left. This gives us a good pulse on what’s going on among grassroots activists in both political parties. On the left, Vivian has a great blog here, and was kind enough, at the Sorenson conference, to invite me on today. On the right Commonwealth Conservative on which I have live-blogged twice, is an old favorite.
Attorney General McDonnell: I know that in recent years as a legislator, you supported doing away with the law enforcement hazardous duty supplement and rolling it over into our regular retirement income from VRS. Each year this comes up and it seems one particular delegate keeps locking it up in his sub- committee. Can you tell me and other retirees that you will push to have our supplement made permanent and not discontinued at age 65? This is a major part of our monthly income that social security can not replace and may not be there forever.
Mr. McDonnell,
Justice O’Connor applied the principal of heightened scrutiny in cases where the legislator was motivated by animus. The debate in the VA Legislature over HB 751, carried accusations that same-sex couples are incapabable of having a long-term relationships, that people will marry their pets, and that the “promotion of homosexuality” by government will lead society into chaos and anarchy. The VA4Marriage site, contains a letter from Dr. Dobson that constructs a false dichotomy between court wins for same-sex headed families and losses for “traditional” families.
“…they are redefining words, creating new laws and looking beyond the U.S. to the advantage of homosexuals and to the demolition of the traditional marriage and family.”
Do you sense animus in these portrayals of “non-traditional” families and their historic struggle for civil rights?
Attorney General McDonnell, thank you very much for answering our questions. I wanted to ask a quick question about the marriage amendment that will be on the ballot in November. What, if anything, will change because of this amendment? Will anything change in the way of domestic violence laws, private contract laws, hospital visitation rights, and (a new argument recently) common law marriages (between one man and one woman) recognized from other states?
Thank you very much. I look forward to your answer
COMBINED WITH
Attorney General McDonnell: I hear you and other proponents of the Marshall/Newman amendment posture on and on about protecting marriage. What exactly does my 22-year heterosexual marriage need protecting from? How exactly should my marriage be feeling threatened by the existence of my best friends’ over 20-year homosexual marriage? Finally, what do you suggest homosexuals who fall in love and want to build a life in Virginia together to include the possibility of raising children, owning a home together, providing for their children, and supporting and caring for their family through sickness and death do should this amendment pass?
Bob: I am combining these two questions to generally address the larger legal issues concerning the marriage amendment. The General Assembly has placed the ballot question before the citizens to raise to a level of constitutional protection several statutory provisions limiting marriage to one man and one woman and prohibiting civil unions and similar relationships. The amendment was proposed in the wake of the United States and Massachusetts Supreme Court decisions which created a concern that the state’s Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) might be invalidated on constitutional grounds.
Opponents have stated that the constitutional amendment will affect the ordinary civil rights of Virginians concerning wills, contracts, and advanced medical directives, as well as weakening protections for unmarried partners who are victims of domestic violence. I believe legally this is absolutely incorrect. The General Assembly’s Privileges and Elections committees passed an official explanation of the Amendment with a strong bi-partisan majority, Democrats and Republicans, agreeing with that legal analysis. The central issue is whether marriage in Virginia should remain between one man and one woman. That is what November’s vote is about.
How’s Jeanine and do you wish it was October?
Bob: I appreciate the inquiries and concern from bloggers and everyday Virginians about the safety of my daughter, First Lieutenant Jeanine McDonnell. She has been in Baghdad for 11 months, and we expect her home safely during the first week in October. I am very proud of my daughter’s service to our nation, and for her hard work and bravery in the pursuit of the cause of freedom. I know Jim Webb’s son is heading to Iraq next week. On the issue of having a child in harm’s way, there are no Republicans and Democrats, there are just concerned parents and citizens. I wish him, and all our troops, well. Thanks for your concern.
Thank you very much for answering my question and for making yourself available. I wish more public officials would.
Your Breakfast Buddy – August 29, 2006
Great Seeing you Saturday in Martinsville.. With the recent deaths of dedicated police officers.. What can be done to Protect our Law Enforcement Officers, who are out protecting us.. and can we pass a mandatory sentence for anyone who kills a law enforcement officer
Bob: Virginia now has the tragic distinction of having 8 law enforcement officers who have fallen in the line of duty in 2006, the second highest total in the nation. It is a stark reminder that freedom is not free, and that the people in uniform that protect us 24 hours a day are doing truly dangerous and heroic work. My office is reviewing these and other law enforcement shootings to determine what statutory or other changes should be implemented. Currently, the killing of a law enforcement office is one of the 13 circumstances of murder which make a criminal eligible for the death penalty. I have regularly been encouraging all Virginians to go out of their way to thank our men and women in uniform for their unique service to protect the liberties of our people.
Mr. McDonnell
At the time the explanation was passed, the Washington Post reported:
You say the committee passed the lanuage with “strong-bipartisan support” but the vote was 12-6 vote (nays: Scott, Brink, Alexander, Sickles, Dance, Englin – all Democrats). Do you still believe that the explanation was neutral and not in violation of the Code?
As Attorney General for the Commonwealth, do you not have a responsibility to advocate for all of its citizens?
I’d like to express my thanks to Attorney General McDonnell for taking the time out of an assuredly busy schedule to answer direct questions in this forum. Recently Virginia passed legislation directing all colleges and universities to report the Social Security numbers of all students to the Virginia State Police, supposedly for the purpose of finding unregistered sexual offenders within that age group. To my knowledge, and please correct me if I’m wrong, no other industry is required to engage in similar reporting. Furthermore, a quick perusal of the state’s sexual offender registry seems to show a vast preponderance of offenders are 25 years old or older (not “college aged”). Such reporting places the onus on colleges and universities instead of the State Police and is a direct infringement on the privacy rights of the 99.999% of college and university students who are not sexual offenders. If the State Police are searching for unregistered offenders, why can they not directly query the 51 such institutions directly instead of engaging in such a massive and intrusive fishing expedition? Furthermore, when the Social Security Administration first issued Social Security Numbers in the late 1930s, they were intended only to allow easy tracking of individual for taxation purposes but have sense “crept” into de facto National Individual Identity Numbers. How will your department protect the personal privacy rights of Virginia citizens as guaranteed in the US Constitution and Bill of Rights in light of the continued erosion of such rights by both the national and state government?
F D McFarland Sr – August 29, 2006
Attorney General McDonnell: I know that in recent years as a legislator, you supported doing away with the law enforcement hazardous duty supplement and rolling it over into our regular retirement income from VRS. Each year this comes up and it seems one particular delegate keeps locking it up in his sub- committee. Can you tell me and other retirees that you will push to have our supplement made permanent and not discontinued at age 65? This is a major part of our monthly income that social security can not replace and may not be there forever.
Bob: I will have to look into the specifics of the hazardous duty supplement and what is occuring in the General Assembly. However, as you know I introduced legislation in my last year in the House, and again championed this year, to increase the retirement multiplier for law enforcement officers to 2.7%. This increase is needed to allow for the tools necessary to recruit and retain the best and brightest law enforcement officers. I will continue to work for passage of a bill to increase the multiplier for law enforcement officers.
I have been robbed of Seventy Thousand dollars from a licensed incorporated class A building contractor in Cambell county,Concord VA. There is an ongoing civil lawsuit in front of the Honorable Judge Johnston in Rustburg. There also needs to be criminal charges filled. Can you please help me My Lawyers name is David Mitchell from Appomatox Va His number is 3520699 My name is Mark Ferguson. Thank you.