Legal Expert: Cuccinelli Places Virginia Police at Risk

In his quest to demonize everyone who isn't white, conservative Christian, and heterosexual, Virginia's Attorney General and Christo-fascist in chief issued an opinion in collusion with Delegate Bob Marshall form Northern Virginia that authorizes Virginia police to stop and question those suspected of being illegal immigrants. Kookinelli apparently wants to gain more attention amongst the Kool-Aid drinking set that hates immigrants - translated this means Hispanics - almost as much as LGBT citizens. Never mind that federal court has stayed Arizona's law that allowed such conduct and never mind that the opinion sets the stage for all kinds of abuses and harassment of legitimate citizens. Under Kookinelli's opinion, if one looks Hispanic you are pretty much open game. Now a legal expert at Washington & Lee's Law School has taken Kookinelli to task in an editorial in the Roanoke Times and outlined the risk that police will be assuming if they follow Kookinelli's discrimination based opinion. Here are some highlights:
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On July 30, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli issued an official advisory opinion regarding the authority of local law enforcement officers to inquire about immigration status. This opinion is based on such faulty logic, and is so contrary to constitutional law, it places local police departments and officers at danger if they follow his advice. In order to avoid facing the risk of possible lawsuits, it is important that law enforcement officers and agencies understand that this opinion is contrary to federal law.
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[T]he attorney general actually says reveals that he is trying to mislead officers into an unconstitutional interpretation of their authority. To understand why, look once more at the operative language.
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First, he says that officers may briefly detain and question a person if they have a reasonable suspicion that a crime has been committed. This is called an "Adams" stop, but does not apply to immigration violations because they are civil offenses, not crimes. He then follows up that statement by saying that a person, once lawfully detained, may be asked of his immigration status so long as it does not prolong the detention.
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The attorney general's opinion then combines these two separate propositions to reach the wildly inaccurate conclusion that Virginia officers have existing authority to do what the Arizona law ordered its officers to do -- stop and question individuals suspected of being in the country unlawfully.
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The attorney general's misleading opinion does a disservice to law enforcement officers who risk their lives every day to keep us safe. First, it needlessly subjects them to the risk that they will violate their duty to uphold the Constitution. Such action is not only offensive to the vast majority of honest law enforcement personnel who want to enforce the law, not break it, but it also subjects them to lawsuits that may impose significant costs in attorneys' fees and damages on them and their departments.
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Second, it threatens to disrupt the hard-won trust that has developed between law enforcement and immigrant communities.
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This poorly reasoned opinion will do little to solve the problem of illegal immigration, but will almost certainly cause problems for law enforcement and for safety in our communities. When the law is twisted to serve a political agenda, we all pay the price.
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The last paragraph sums up well Kookinelli's approach to the law - he thinks it is whatever he wants it to be based on his own religious extremism and racial prejudices. The man is a menace and embarrassment to Virginia.