Thursday, January 19, 2006
Attorney general lays groundwork
General Assembly Notebook
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roanoke.com/politics
RICHMOND -- Attorney General Bob McDonnell delivered what he described as a "state of the law firm" address to his staff Wednesday, saying he will pursue an ambitious legislative agenda, demand high ethical conduct and fight for sufficient money and manpower to run his office.
"I commit to you that I will do all in my power to provide you with the opportunities, the tools, and the resources to help you achieve your professional goals and perform your duties with the highest level of competence," McDonnell said in a public speech to lawyers and support staff at the attorney general's office.
McDonnell, a Republican, took office on Saturday as Virginia's 44th attorney general. He won the closest statewide election in Virginia history in November, defeating Democrat Creigh Deeds by just 360 votes out of more than 1.94 million cast.
McDonnell briefly referred to his razor-thin victory margin in his speech.
"Like all of you, I have heard through the years the typical lawyer jokes, as well as government-bureaucrat jokes," McDonnell said. "They're about as funny as the landslide jokes I've been hearing."
McDonnell outlined key policy goals for his first legislative session, including tougher penalties for drug trafficking, identity theft and certain sex crimes against children. McDonnell has heavily promoted a package of legislation that would, among other things, dramatically increase prison terms for serious sex crimes against children younger than 13.
"My first priority will be to ensure that the children of Virginia grow up safe and secure in their neighborhoods," McDonnell said. "A critical step in that process is to put convicted sexual predators behind bars for a very long time and monitor them electronically if they are ever released."
Bills target Internet porn, predators
Three Republicans in the House of Delegates outlined legislation Wednesday designed to curb children's access to pornography and other potentially harmful content on the Internet.
One measure (HB 1014) would expand the state's existing laws governing child pornography to punish parties that knowingly facilitate payments for such material over the Internet. The bill's sponsor, Del. Robert Hurt, R-Chatham, said the law could apply to people or companies outside of Virginia involved in transactions for child pornography for users in Virginia. The crime would be a felony punishable by a maximum prison term of 10 years.
Del. Sam Nixon, R-Chesterfield County, is sponsoring legislation (HB 570) requiring public libraries to install software filters to block Internet access to child pornography and material defined by law as obscene or harmful to juveniles. A similar measure passed the House last year, but failed in the state Senate. But Nixon, noting that the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of such filters, said he is hopeful the measure will clear both houses this year.
Del. William Fralin, R-Roanoke, is sponsoring legislation (HB 58) that would require public school resource officers to instruct students on ways to avoid dangerous and inappropriate material in the Internet.
"We must teach children early and often of the Internet's potential danger from online sexual predators," Fralin said.
Sunday hunting bill fails
A new approach produced a familiar result Wednesday when Del. Onzlee Ware, D-Roanoke, tried to win support for legislation opening the door for Sunday hunting in the state.
A subcommittee of the House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources swiftly rejected Ware's bill (HB 711), which would have given localities the option of rescinding Sunday hunting bans in their jurisdictions. Ware had hoped his local option proposal would fare better than previous efforts to rescind Virginia's ban on Sunday hunting.
Ware argued that hunters should be treated no differently than fishermen, golfers and others who enjoy recreational pursuits on Sundays. He gave subcommittee members color-coded maps to illustrate that most states allow Sunday hunting.
"Even California, my gracious, has Sunday hunting," Ware said, drawing some chuckles from the subcommittee.
But Ware's proposal encountered opposition from representatives of the state's equine industry, who worried that Sunday hunting could jeopardize the safety of horseback riders, and from a representative of the Virginia Assembly of Independent Baptists. The subcommittee rejected the measure on a voice vote.
