Cuccinelli, Virginia delegate accused of bypassing lawmakers in legal-opinion tactic

[mahatmakanejeeves]

I think this is what they call judicial activism. It certainly does not look like orginalism.

Cuccinelli, Virginia delegate accused of bypassing lawmakers in legal-opinion tactic

By Anita Kumar
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 21, 2010

RICHMOND -- Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II has issued several controversial legal opinions in the past few months, concluding, for instance, that police could check the immigration status of those stopped by law-enforcement officers, that the state could impose stricter oversight of clinics that perform abortions and that local governments could allow religious holiday displays on public property.

In each instance, the request for the opinion came from the same person: Del. Robert G. Marshall (Prince William), a like-minded Republican who shares Cuccinelli's far-right views.

Marshall has sought seven opinions from Cuccinelli since the attorney general took office in January, and has three pending, including one that questions whether Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R) has the authority to seek additional stimulus funds from the federal government. The number of requests is extraordinarily high, and it is generally unmatched by any legislator in an attorney general's entire four-year term.

Observers say their relationship has become symbiotic -- one that helps each promote themselves and advance their interests -- but in a way no one envisioned before.

"It's not unconstitutional,'' said A.E. Dick Howard, a law professor at the University of Virginia and one of the drafters of the modern Virginia Constitution. "It's just not contemplated. It's outside what the framers of the Constitution would have seen."

[DCKit]

1. The Cooch is a NeoCon's NeoCon. n/t