Shannon seeks top law post

Steve Shannon took a six-figure pay cut when he switched from a private law firm to become a Fairfax County prosecutor in 2000.

During a stint of more than two years, Shannon focused on felony crimes against children, and also prosecuted rapists, pedophiles, drunken drivers and embezzlers.

Now, the Democratic delegate wants to become Virginia’s next attorney general in November so he can emphasize public safety and offer legal advice to Virginia’s governor, executive branch agencies and Virginia colleges.

“I won’t need on-the-job training and I won’t be a party guy running the office,” Shannon said during an editorial board interview with The News Virginian. He believes the attorney general should be an apolitical figure whose top objective is to keep Virginia safe.

Chris LaCivita, a campaign consultant to Republican attorney general candidate Sen. Ken Cuccinelli, said the reason Shannon is calling the office apolitical is because “Democrats are not in favor now.”

Shannon said keeping the commonwealth safe means curbing the influence of gangs in suburban and rural Virginia, prosecuting drunken drivers and making inroads on catching the users of nearly 19,400 computers where child pornography is traded in the state.

“One in three adults trading child pornography are molesting children,” said Shannon.

He plans to personally help Virginia commonwealth’s attorneys prosecute the cases as part of an effort to get more state money to investigate them.

Shannon and Cuccinelli attended the same Washington, D.C., high school and their legislative districts overlap.

And while Shannon likes Cuccinelli personally, he said his opponent has championed a cultural agenda and is a more partisan candidate.

“The top responsibility is the safety of the citizens,” said Shannon.

His campaign Web site and Cuccinelli’s promote a different set of priorities, Shannon said.

“I focus on the law enforcement role and he believes some of the role should be on cultural issues,” Shannon said. “That is not as important as DUIs, gangs and adult sexual predators.”

“Any bill the General Assembly passes, it is my job to defend,” whether he agrees or not, Shannon said of the attorney general role.

LaCivita said Cuccinelli has an extensive record on public safety as a member of the Senate Courts of Justice Committee and has been involved in major overhauls of the criminal justice system in Virginia during his Senate tenure.

Shannon said it is the role of the judicial branch to determine the constitutionality of legislation, not the attorney general’s.

LaCivita said being attorney general is multi-dimensional, and the attorney general must defend Virginia’s constitutional rights.

Shannon said the office is not quasi-legislative, but one that prosecutes criminals and serves as a lawyer to the governor, executive branch, State Corporation Commission and consumers.

“Once a bill is law, I must defend it as a zealous advocate for my client,” he said.

Shannon was among the first to call for the resignation of Del. Phil Hamilton, an influential Republican Hampton Roads legislator who is under fire for securing $500,000 in funding for an Old Dominion University teaching center and for getting a $40,000 part-time contract for himself at the teaching center.

Hamilton is under investigation by the House for violating the state’s conflict-of-interest law.

“Ken told me to focus on the election and let the voters decide,” said Shannon.

Shannon’s call for Hamilton’s resignation has been seconded by Republican gubernatorial nominee Robert F. McDonnell and others. Shannon said public funds should be spent on students, and if he witnesses a breach of public trust, “I will call it out” regardless of political party.

LaCivita said the Hamilton case can be reviewed by the House Ethics Committee first and then the case could go to either the full Virginia House or the Attorney General’s Office.

And LaCivita said that while Cuccinelli has not prejudged Hamilton, Shannon has.

“Shannon would have to recuse himself,” he said, if the Democrat is elected attorney general and the Hamilton case comes to him.

The two candidates also have sparred over a special session for the state impact of the U.S. Supreme Court decision Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts.

The decision said it was a violation of the Sixth Amendment’s confrontation clause to require a defendant to call a lab technician as a witness in their own criminal case. This was a Virginia law requirement at the time of the case.

Cuccinelli called for a special session to address the problems of Melendez. He said Shannon’s reaction was that it was a political stunt.

Shannon disagrees, and said he talked with Gov. Timothy M. Kaine and advised the governor to hold the special session.

“I was part of the Melendez-Diaz solution,” Shannon said.

LaCivita said Cuccinelli showed leadership on the “biggest public safety issue to rise on the radar screen this year,” while Shannon did not.

Shannon’s public involvement started in the 1990s when he and his wife worked to secure the first Amber Alert system in Northern Virginia to help rescue abducted children.

Living in Northern Virginia, Shannon has seen gang activity up close.

But now, he said, suburban and rural Virginia are victims of gangs.

He said he thinks the solution involves regional cooperation, and he wants to partner with schools, nonprofit groups and the private sector to provide role models for young people so they won’t be tempted to join gangs.