Editors’ Note: Cross-posted from The Washington Post, January 19, 2022.
By Justin Jouvenal
Virginia’s new Attorney General Jason S. Miyares has already launched a probe of a state parole board he feels failed crime victims, fired several employees, including in a unit that investigates wrongful convictions, and blasted liberal prosecutors who seek lighter sentences.The former prosecutor, who is the first Latino to hold statewide office in Virginia, said in a wide-ranging interview that those early moves are just the opening salvo in a broader plan to reorient criminal justice policy in a state that he says has gone too soft on crime and has seen a recent spike in its murder rate.
“I said I wanted to have the office discuss and focus a lot on public safety. That’s a lot of what we are going to be doing,” Miyares said. “We have hired several former commonwealth’s attorneys in several key positions.”
One of Miyares’s first moves — even before he officially took office — was firing about 30 of the roughly 450 members of the attorney general’s staff. They included attorneys who worked on civil rights, opioids, human trafficking and election issues. One of the attorneys in the civil rights division handled housing discrimination.
One of Miyares’s first moves — even before he officially took office — was firing about 30 of the roughly 450 members of the attorney general’s staff. They included attorneys who worked on civil rights, opioids, human trafficking and election issues. One of the attorneys in the civil rights division handled housing discrimination.
The firings also included the entire conviction integrity unit, which investigates potential wrongful convictions. The office of Mark R. Herring, Miyares’s predecessor, called the firings a “significant loss” in a statement. One of the fired attorneys tweeted: “I’m so sorry to all the people we didn’t get to help.”
On Wednesday night, Miyares announced that he had reversed one of Herring’s legal efforts, pulling Virginia out of a coalition of states seeking to defend the Environmental Protection Agency’s plan to reduce greenhouse gases from existing power plants. “Virginia is no longer anti-coal,” Miyares said in a tweet, adding that he supports the coal industry in the southwest part of the state.
Miyares edged out Herring in November’s election, part of a conservative wave that brought Republicans to the top three offices in the state. On Saturday, he took office along with Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Lt. Gov. Winsome E. Sears.
Democrats, including State Sen. Scott A. Surovell (Fairfax), criticized the way Miyares handled the staffing moves and questioned whether he remained committed to pursuing the issues the fired attorneys were handling.
“Attorneys have an ethical obligation to properly exit a case,” Surovell said. “Giving lawyers 24 hours to exit a case is not right.”
Surovell said he was particularly concerned about whether the conviction integrity unit could effectively continue its work on exonerations after losing its entire staff.
Surovell said he was particularly concerned about whether the conviction integrity unit could effectively continue its work on exonerations after losing its entire staff.
A Miyares spokeswoman, Victoria LaCivita, said in a statement that the office will continue work in all the areas covered by the fired attorneys. She said it was clear throughout the campaign that Miyares and Herring had “very different visions for the office.”
“We are restructuring the office, as every incoming AG has done in the past,” LaCivita said.
Hours after taking office on Saturday, Miyares announced investigations into the Virginia Parole Board’s release of felons and Loudoun County schools handling of a pair of sexual assaults by a high school student. Both cases have generated controversy.
Hours after taking office on Saturday, Miyares announced investigations into the Virginia Parole Board’s release of felons and Loudoun County schools handling of a pair of sexual assaults by a high school student. Both cases have generated controversy.
Virginia’s attorney general has less jurisdiction over crime than attorneys general in some other states, but Miyares hopes to expand that role. The office currently handles some child exploitation cases, computer crimes, consumer protection laws and gang activity among others, as well as offers legal advice to state agencies and legislators. Local prosecutors around the state handle most crimes.
Miyares said he plans to reconfigure the unit that investigated wrongful convictions to pursue special investigations and cold cases as well. The unit will be headed by former Arlington prosecutor and Democrat Theo Stamos. It was created by Herring in April 2021.
In addition, Miyares’s office is working with Del. Rob Bell (R-Albemarle) on legislation that will allow local police and sheriffs to ask the attorney general’s office to prosecute certain violent crimes, instead of the local prosecutor in the jurisdiction.
Miyares said the bill was a response to some liberal prosecutors, such as Fairfax County’s Steve T. Descano, who had not sought to prosecute defendants to the fullest extent or sought sentences that critics argue were too lenient.
“If you’re not going to do your job, let Virginians have a backup plan in the attorney general,” Miyares said.
Descano said in a statement that crime overall has dropped in Fairfax County since he took office and he takes crime seriously.
“This bill is really about Attorney General Miyares’ desire to work on behalf of national Trump-aligned Republicans to stifle reform in diverse jurisdictions like mine and bring back the failed ‘tough-on-crime’ policies that disproportionately harmed Black and brown Virginians,” Descano said.
Miyares is also supporting bills that would bring back sentencing by juries, beef up tools to investigate and prosecute elder abuse and require prosecutors to be notified when suspects are let out on bond.
The prospects for all the bills are uncertain in a General Assembly split between a Republican-controlled House of Delegates and a Senate controlled by Democrats.
Miyares said one completely new initiative his office is undertaking is to create the office’s first chief privacy counsel to investigate and prosecute cases involving breaches or misuse of personal data. The position is an outgrowth of the Consumer Protection Data Act, which was passed by the legislature last year and signed into law by former governor Ralph Northam (D).
Herring liked to say he turned the attorney general’s office into a “progressive powerhouse,” using its powers to pursue liberal goals on hot button issues like abortion and same-sex marriage. Specifically, Miyares said he has no plans to proactively wade into abortion policy.
Miyares said he envisions a less activist role for the office and would defend all Virginia laws, even those he voted against as a legislator. Herring famously refused to defend a Virginia law banning same-sex marriage shortly after he took office.
Miyares said he envisions a less activist role for the office and would defend all Virginia laws, even those he voted against as a legislator. Herring famously refused to defend a Virginia law banning same-sex marriage shortly after he took office.
“The General Assembly makes the decision on how it wants to apply the law,” Miyares said. “I’m a balls and strikes guy. That’s how I would approach it. Hopefully with a sense of humility.”
That includes a lawsuit recently filed by Herring that accused the town of Windsor’s police of a pattern of discriminatory policing, after a video emerged of a controversial stop by officers on Caron Nazario, a Black Army lieutenant.
Miyares said he is open to pursuing similar “pattern-and-practice” investigations. Miyares, who is the son of a Cuban immigrant, said he was sensitive to abuse by police after hearing his uncle relay a story of being detained and abused by Cuban authorities shortly after the Bay of Pigs invasion. He said his uncle was subject to a mock execution.
“I’m a passionate believer in individual dignity and not abusing that — least of all by government,” Miyares said.
Categories: CIVIL RIGHTS, crime and punishment, elections, Issues, legislature, political parties, politics, prosecutors, State
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