Attorney General Herring is leading a transformation in the way Virginia works to prevent and respond to sexual and domestic violence. He is leading a $3.4 million project to completely eliminate Virginia's backlog of more than 2,000 untested rape kits. He chaired Gov. Terry McAuliffe's Task Force on Combating Campus Sexual Violence, which helped make Virginia a national leader on the issue. He has helped implement Lethality Assessment Protocol, an innovative tool to prevent domestic violence and homicide, in dozens of communities around the Commonwealth.
Because he understands that we can't just arrest our way out of this problem, he has relentlessly pursued a comprehensive strategy that emphasizes education, prevention, and treatment alongside enforcement against dealers and traffickers who profit off addiction.
Attorney General Herring launched an unprecedented five-point plan to address the crisis which includes legislation, education, prevention, enforcement, and collaboration. He was recognized with the "Bronze Key Award" for his commitment and effectiveness in addressing substance abuse.
Attorney General Herring and his team have made the services of the office more readily available and accessible to state and local law enforcement agencies and invested in a mobile computer forensics lab so technicians can analyze child pornography at the scene of the crime.
Attorney General Herring's Office has invested in cutting edge technology that makes it easier for investigators to identify child victims and rescue them from dangerous situations.
Herring called for the decriminalization of possession of small amounts of marijuana, action to address past convictions for simple possession, and a move towards legal and regulated adult use in Virginia.
"While other states are moving to a more sensible approach to cannabis, Virginia is still moving in the wrong direction. It makes absolutely no sense," said Attorney General Herring. "Even more Virginians, especially young people and people of color, are being saddled with criminal records that can drastically affect their lives. Now is the time to put a stop to this costly, unfair, and ineffective approach, and to pursue a better, smarter, fairer course."
Under the Trump Administration, immigrant children have been held for weeks in inhumane conditions without access to basic necessities like soap, clean water, toothbrushes, showers, or a place to sleep. "The way children have been held in these disgusting, inhumane conditions at the border is reprehensible," said Attorney General Herring. "We cannot stand by and allow the Trump Administration to continue to harm these children and ignore the protections granted to them. The way these children have been treated in these detention centers is not who we are as a country and it must be stopped."
In a joint letter sent yesterday, Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring & Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear asked the Office of the United States Trustee to ensure the "immediate repayment" of paychecks owed to workers. "All workers who have labored for the company and are owed back wages should be made whole. And they should be made whole immediately," the attorneys general wrote.
Herring & Beshear said Blackjewel's poor financial planning led to its "haphazard" bankruptcy wherein it issued paychecks backed by insufficient funds.
"Despite knowing for years of its precarious financial situation, the Debtor did nothing to prepare itself or its workforce for this month's bankruptcy," the letter said.
According to the release, misclassification is one of the most common forms of worker exploitation and often involves identifying an employee as an "independent contractor" in order to avoid paying unemployment and workers taxes.
Since acknowledging that he, too, had dressed in blackface as a young man, Herring took pains to differentiate his situation from Northam's. "The governor had said he was in the [blackface] photo." Herring said. "The next day, the governor came out with a different and contradictory account, and that was when there was an erosion of trust. That was what my [resignation] statement was about. It was really about the public trust. I would hold myself to the same standard."
After Northam's revelations, Herring said he "agonized" about whether to disclose that he dressed in blackface for a party as a 19-year-old student at U.Va. He said ultimately decided to do so on his own, dismissing the idea that his hand was forced by questions from the media.
Cash bail reform: The cash bail system can lead to bizarre outcomes where dangerous people with money can go free while nonviolent people sit in jail for days, weeks or months because they can't afford to pay bail. This can cause a person to lose their job, housing and support systems. Virginia should move away from the use of cash bail as its default for low level offenses and instead expand pretrial services that have proven to be effective and cheaper.
Building a more inclusive, diverse judiciary: Unfortunately, Virginia's diversity is not reflected in its judiciary. While Virginia's population is about 20% African American, 10% Hispanic/Latino and 7% Asian, only an extremely small percentage of Circuit and District Court judges are minorities. As Democrats take the lead on judicial selection, consideration must be given to inclusion, diversity, and representation.
Cannabis reform: Criminalizing marijuana possession is not working. It is needlessly creating criminals, saddling people with convictions and costing taxpayers millions each year. The social and human costs are tremendous, and the weight of the system falls disproportionately on African Americans and people of color. There are smarter, better ways we can handle cannabis and that begins with decriminalizing simple possession of small amounts, addressing past convictions and moving towards legal, regulated adult use.
Expanding opportunities for record expungement: Virginia is one of the nation's least forgiving and most restrictive states for individuals who have earned the opportunity to have old convictions and charges expunged from their records. Too often a relatively minor charge or conviction, such as marijuana or alcohol possession, becomes a permanent stain.
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The above quotations are from 2021 Virginia Gubernatorial race: debates and news coverage.
Click here for other excerpts from 2021 Virginia Gubernatorial race: debates and news coverage. Click here for other excerpts by Mark Herring. Click here for other excerpts by other Governors.
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