Attorneys general in the region have joined a lawsuit filed by 14 states, D.C. and New York City against President Donald Trump’s administration in an effort to protect food stamp benefits for the unemployed. Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh joined his counterparts in D.C. and Virginia in filing the suit, which challenges the U.S. Agriculture Department change that will limit each jurisdiction’s ability to extend food stamp benefits beyond a three-month period for some adults.
Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring, who is pushing to decriminalize marijuana in the Commonwealth, spoke at the Virginia 2020 Cannabis Conference in Richmond Sunday. Herring said that he supports decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana, taking action to address past convictions and moving towards legal and regulated adult use.
Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring said Tuesday he will be reintroducing a set of bills in the upcoming 2020 legislative session aimed at strengthening hate crime statuses and punishments for hate crimes. For the fourth year in a row, Herring said, he will introduce legislation which will update hate crime laws and domestic terrorism laws, and strengthen gun control across the state.
Virginia’s top law-enforcement officer says the resolutions local governments have been passing to declare themselves exempt from proposed gun safety laws have no standing. Attorney General Mark Herring, a Democrat, issued an opinion Friday saying the Second Amendment Sanctuary resolutions have “no legal effect,”
The resolutions local governments have passed in more than 100 localities declaring themselves Second Amendment sanctuaries have “no legal effect,” Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring wrote in an advisory opinion. Herring, a Democrat, said Friday the localities and local constitutional officers “cannot nullify state laws” and must follow the gun laws passed by the General Assembly.
After dozens of Virginia localities — including several in Southwest Virginia — declared themselves Second Amendment “sanctuaries” in recent weeks, Attorney General Mark Herring issued an advisory opinion that the resolutions “have no legal effect.” Citing requirements in the Virginia Constitution and state code for local governments to follow state law, Herring wrote in his four-page opinion that “these resolutions neither have the force of law nor authorize localities or local constitutional officials to refuse to follow or decline to enforce gun violence prevention measures enacted by the General Assembly.”
This would not have happened a few years ago, but on Wednesday the Virginia attorney general hosted a “cannabis summit” in Richmond as Virginia moves closer toward joining other states in liberalizing marijuana law. Herring, who announced a year ago that he plans to run for governor in 2021, said he called experts to Richmond so lawmakers could hear from other states about how they’ve handled reform of marijuana prohibition laws.
Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring and the General Assembly’s new “Cannabis Caucus” are exploring ways to loosen state marijuana laws, and will meet Wednesday to discuss decriminalizing possession of the drug and legalizing it for recreational use.
A Democratic state delegate has asked Attorney General Mark Herring (D) for a formal opinion on the Second Amendment sanctuary declarations being passed in a growing number of conservative counties across the state. In a letter sent to the attorney general Monday, Del. Jay Jones, D-Norfolk, said a legal opinion could help clear up confusion on an issue that has “become a flashpoint across our state.”
Democrats are eagerly making legislative wish lists as they anticipate their new-found dominance in the halls of state government when the General Assembly convenes Jan. 8. On Nov. 18, Attorney General Mark R. Herring announced his priorities for “a more just, equal, and fair criminal justice system,” including cannabis reform, cash bail reform and more pathways to record expungement.