You are hereBlog / Kate Vassar's blog / Virginia Attorney General Oversteps Himself

Virginia Attorney General Oversteps Himself

By Kate Vassar - Posted on 07 March 2010

The Virginia Attorney General sent a letter to all the colleges in Virginia with nondiscrimination clauses that include GLBT, saying that they have overstepped themselves and only the state can create a protected class of people.


In his most aggressive initiative on conservative social issues since taking office in January, Cuccinelli (R) wrote in the letter sent Thursday that only the General Assembly can extend legal protections to gay state employees, students and others -- a move the legislature has repeatedly declined to take as recently as this week.

To quote further:


"It is my advice that the law and public policy of the Commonwealth of Virginia prohibit a college or university from including 'sexual orientation,' 'gender identity,' 'gender expression,' or like classification as a protected class within its non-discrimination policy absent specific authorization from the General Assembly," he wrote in the letter.

Colleges that have included such language in policies that govern university hiring and admissions -- which include all of Virginia's largest schools -- have done so "without proper authority" and should "take appropriate actions to bring their policies in conformance with the law and public policy of Virginia," Cuccinelli wrote.

If anyone has overstepped themselves, it's Cuccinelli. Virginia law says the Attorney General can only offer legal opinions when asked to in writing:


A. The Attorney General shall give his advice and render official advisory opinions in writing only when requested in writing so to do by one of the following: the Governor; a member of the General Assembly; a judge of a court of record or a judge of a court not of record; the State Corporation Commission; an attorney for the Commonwealth; a county, city or town attorney in those localities in which such office has been created; a clerk of a court of record; a city or county sheriff; a city or county treasurer or similar officer; a commissioner of the revenue or similar officer; a chairman or secretary of an electoral board; or the head of a state department, division, bureau, institution or board.

B. Except in cases where an opinion is requested by the Governor or a member of the General Assembly, the Attorney General shall have no authority to render an official opinion unless the question dealt with is directly related to the discharge of the duties of the official requesting the opinion. Any opinion request to the Attorney General by an attorney for the Commonwealth or county, city or town attorney shall itself be in the form of an opinion embodying a precise statement of all facts together with such attorney's legal conclusions.

Edited to add a good legal analysis.

Interesting statement...
Submitted by Julie (not verified) on Sun, 2010-03-07 22:22.

...and just how does the governor plan to enforce his anti-non-discrimination policy? Does he realize how stupid this sounds?

Oops...
Submitted by Julie (not verified) on Sun, 2010-03-07 22:23.

...Attorney General, not Governor... sigh... actually it sounds even dumber coming from an AG.

Search

Navigation