ACLU to Virginia Police: Ignore Cuccinelli's Opinion

Would that we could all ignore Ken "Kookinelli" Cuccinelli, Virginia's nutcase Attorney General who thinks that whatever he wants is what the law will be. The man - besides being delusional - has delusions of grander which I hope will be squelched either by the Cooch getting into trouble grossly overstepping his authority or his being outed by some former male trick - the rumors continue - who just cannot tolerate Cooch's posturing and hypocrisy (this is what ultimately took down former Congressman Ed "Mega Phone" Schrock with some help from yours truly, Mike Rogers and some other folks). Recently, Kookinelli issued an opinion in collusion with Del. Bob Marshall, the GOP's Darth Vader equivalent in Virginia, who detests immigrants almost as much as he hates gays. The outcome was Kookinelli's opinion stating that law enforcement officers could question those stopped for any reason about their immigration/citizenship status. Never mind that a federal court has stayed this activity authorized under Arizona's recently effective anti-immigrant, anti-Hispanic immigration law. Now the ACLU has advised police across Virginia to ignore Kookinelli's opinion and therby avoid lawsuits and problems. Here are highlights from the Virginian Pilot on the ACLU's challenge to Kookinelli's dictatorial mandates:
*
From the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia: Ignore Cuccinelli. His opinion lacks a legal foundation and presents constitutional and public policy problems.
*
Cuccinelli issued the advisory opinion Monday at the request of state Del. Robert G. Marshall. Rebecca K. Glenberg, legal director of the ACLU of Virginia, followed up with a letter to Virginia's police chiefs Thursday saying the opinion is legally flawed and should be disregarded.
*
So how do Virginia police respond to these opposing viewpoints? They continue what they've been doing, according to Dana Schrad, executive director of the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police. "In terms of practice and policy, it varies across the state depending on the priorities of the locality," Schrad said. In some localities, police generally don't ask about immigration status because doing so could have "a chilling effect" on the immigrant community's cooperation with law enforcement, she said. In others, officers inquire.
*
Schrad emphasized that the attorney general's opinion was not requested by law enforcement, and said she received no questions from the association's members about the issue before or after the opinion's release. "It has been clearly understood by law enforcement what their authority is," she said.
*
Marshall, the legislator who asked for the opinion, represents a county whose crackdowns on its large immigrant population drew national attention in 2007 and 2008. Last week, the chairman of Prince William County's board of supervisors established a political action committee to press for legislation in Virginia similar the Arizona law.
*
Glenberg said in her letter to the police chiefs that Cuccinelli's opinion failed to acknowledge that a federal judge recently blocked the Arizona law's key provisions, including the requirement that officers inquire about immigration status when they have reason to believe a person they've stopped may be in the country illegally.

She also said that because most police officers have not been trained on immigration law enforcement, which is primarily a federal responsibility, allowing them to question people about their status "is an invitation for racial profiling and potential Equal Protection violations."
*
Given the dire financial straits of most Virginia municipalities, the last thing they need is litigation arising from some chauvinist cop with an overgrown ego acting on Cuccinelli's flawed opinion - litigation in which the municipality could lose big time financially.