Ken Cuccinelli

Kenneth Cuccinelli is the Virginia Attorney General who "served a civil investigative demand on the University of Virginia seeking a broad range" (thousands?) of emails and other documents of climate scientist Michael Mann, now of Penn State University, from his years at the University of Virginia.

Background - George Mason University, father was fossil fuel executive
Kenneth Cuccinelli is a graduate of George Mason University He has a Law Degree from George Mason University’s School of Law and Economics and a Master's Degree in International Relations from George Mason University.

Cuccinelli's father, also named Ken Cuccinelli, "was named 1994 Gas Marketing executive and also served as chief operating officer of CNG Energy" before joining his current company.

Power of office
Cuccinelli's office reviews each bill passed by the General Assembly for Constitutionality and consistency with other existing laws. Two weeks after taking office, Cuccinelli drew cricitism for continuing to represent a private client in a court proceeding.

2010: abortion clinic regulation
On August 23, 2010, Cuccinelli issued a legal opinion concluding that the Virginia Board of Health had the power to require abortion clinics to meet hospital-type standards, even though the General Assembly had rejected legislation to achieve the same result. Under current law, abortion clinics can perform first trimester abortions while second and third trimester abortions are performed in hospitals. From 2002 to 2008, bills were introduced that sought to treat abortion clinics as "ambulatory surgery centers" and require them to meet hospital-type regulations, but the bills did not pass. Pro-choice advocates argue that complying with ambulatory surgery center regulations would make abortions more expensive and force some clinics to close. It does not appear that the Board of Health will regulate abortion clinics based on Cuccinelli's opinion.

2010: Healthcare
On March 23, 2010, Cuccinelli filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia challenging the constitutionality of the Federal Health Care bill passed on March 21, claiming that it exceeded the Federal government's power under the interstate commerce clause of the Constitution. On May 24, 2010, the federal government responded to Virginia’s lawsuit over the recently enacted federal health care law with a motion to dismiss the suit. The Federal Government argues 1) that as of matter of jurisdiction and procedure, Virginia has no right to bring this case now, 2) that Congress has the authority under the Constitution’s Commerce Clause to order Americans to buy health insurance and 3) that the health insurance mandate is lawful under the Taxing and Spending Clause of the Constitution. On June 7, 2010 Virginia responded to the federal government’s motion to dismiss the state’s lawsuit.

On July 1, 2010, Federal district court judge Henry E. Hudson heard arguments on the motion to dismiss the suit. On August 2, Judge Hudson ruled that the case can go forward and a two-hour summary judgment hearing was held on October 18, 2010, at 9:00 a.m. to on the constitutional claims. The hearing focused on whether the entire law must be invalidated if the requirement that individuals purchase insurance is held unconstitutional and whether the requirement to purchase insurance is a "tax" or a "penalty." On December 13, 2010, Judge Hudson ruled that the individual mandate portion of the health care bill was unconstitutional, but did not enjoin the implementation of the law.

2010: Immigration
On July 14, 2010, Cuccinelli joined eight other states in filing an amicus brief opposing the federal government's lawsuit challenging an Arizona immigration enforcement statute.

On August 2, 2010, Cuccinelli issued a legal opinion authorizing law enforcement officials to investigate the immigration status of anyone that they have stopped. Prior to this opinion, law enforcement investigated immigration status of those actually arrested. Cuccinelli noted that the authority to investigate the immigration status of a stopped person should not "extend the duration of a stop by any significant degree." Critics note that the opinion circumvents changing the policy by legislation and that bills to make this change have died in the General Assembly. In November 2010, Cuccinelli rendered a legal opinion requested by Delegate Scott Lingamfelter (R-Prince William) regarding a legislative proposal from Prince William County Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart to expand an anti-immigration county ordinance into a state-wide law. Cuccinelli opined that some provisions would be redundant with existing laws and others would be unconstitutional.

2010: Gay rights
On March 4, 2010, one month after Governor Bob McDonnell issued an Executive Order which did not include protections for gays and lesbians employed by the Commonwealth, Cuccinelli issued a letter to Virginia's public colleges and universities that said, in part, "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 then advised that the schools should "take appropriate actions to bring their policies in conformance with the law and public policy of Virginia." According to the Washington Post, "leaders of academia attacked the state directive on several fronts" including criticisms from the American Association of University Professors and Cuccinelli's own alma mater, the University of Virginia.

On March 10, 2010, McDonnell issued Executive Directive One (a statement of executive policy) to all state agency heads directing them not to fire employees based on sexual orientation. Despite the controversy, Cuccinelli stood by his letter, saying state universities are governed by the Dillon rule and had inadvertently circumvented state law. In a letter written to the University of Virginia community (Cuccinelli's alma mater), state senators Creigh Deeds, Mark Herring and Ralph Northam pointed out that McDonnell's directive was only a directive and did not "carry any weight of law" and would still prevent students or employees "who are discriminated against because of their sexual orientation" from seeking "a course of action". They further added, "the University of Virginia is more than capable of deciding what policies advance its mission, and should do so without meddling from Attorney General Cuccinelli." The Washington Post also noted that the Directive was not "legally-binding" and that McDonnell "supported the legal reasoning of Cuccinelli's letter". Despite Cuccinelli's lack of support on college campuses, support came to him through other groups: the Family Foundation emailed supporters with the subject reading "AG Follows Law, Gets Ripped" opposed any push to have the legislature address the issue.

2010: Environmental policies
On February 16, 2010, Cuccinelli filed a request with the United States Environmental Protection Agency to reopen its proceeding regarding EPA's finding that greenhouse gases endanger public health. He also sought judicial review of EPA's finding in Federal court. His press statement explained, "We cannot allow unelected bureaucrats with political agendas to use falsified data to regulate American industry and drive our economy into the ground”. On March 19, Cuccinelli announced that the total number of states supporting Virginia’s position is now at least 15. “While we made the decision to intervene based on what was in the best interests of Virginia and her citizens, it is gratifying to have the support of so many other states,” said Cuccinelli. On April 1, 2010, Cuccinelli announced he will be challenging the new March 2010 standards for fuel efficiency for cars and trucks finalized by the Obama administration and Environmental Protection Agency under the Clean Air Act.  The new standards move up goals set in December 2007 when President Bush signed The Energy Independence and Security Act, which passed on a bipartisan vote of 314 to 100, which set the higher fuel economy standards for cars and light trucks by law for the first time in 32 years.

2010: Litigation with University of Virginia re emails
In April 2010, Cuccinelli served a civil investigative demand on the University of Virginia seeking a broad range of documents related to Michael E. Mann, a climate researcher now at Penn State who was an assistant professor at UVA from 1999 to 2005. Cuccinelli is investigating Mann's putative violation of the 2002 Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act, although no evidence of wrongdoing was given to explain the invocation of the law. While climate change skeptics have challenged Mann's work, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and a Penn State investigation cleared Mann of charges that he falsified or suppressed data The Washington Post quotes Rachel Levinson, senior counsel with the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) as saying Cuccinelli's request had "echoes of McCarthyism." A. Barton Hinkle of the Richmond Times-Dispatch criticized Cuccinelli for "employing a very expansive reading of Virginia’s Fraud Against Taxpayers Act," writing:

This is not a maneuver gracefully executed by an Attorney General who is arguing, in the ObamaCare case, against Washington’s overly expansive reading of the Commerce Clause. How does Cuccinelli explain adopting the narrowest possible interpretation of the relevant language in that case, and the broadest possible interpretation of the relevant language in the Mann case? ... . Nothing about the Mann case evokes a sense of modesty or restraint. If Cuccinelli wants to rein in government power, then he could start at home.

Among the groups urging the University of Virginia to resist producing the data are: a letter published in Science signed by 255 members of the United States National Academy of Sciences, the American Civil Liberties Union and the AAUP. Also in May 2010, the University of Virginia Faculty Senate Executive Council wrote a letter strongly rebuking Cuccinelli for his civil investigative demand of the Mann records, stating that "[Cuccinelli's] action and the potential threat of legal prosecution of scientific endeavor that has satisfied peer-review standards send a chilling message to scientists engaged in basic research involving Earth’s climate and indeed to scholars in any discipline." In 2011 in response to the escalating attacks form the Virginia AG's office, the Union of Concerned Scientists published a defense of scientific integrity and "Timeline: Legal Harassment of Climate Scientist Michael Mann".

On May 27, 2010, the University of Virginia began legal proceedings by filing a petition to resist Cuccinelli's investigative demand. In addition to challenging the investigative demands on academic freedom grounds, the petition states that Virginia's "Fraud Against Taxpayers Act" (FATA) cited by Cuccinelli is not applicable in this case, as four of the five grants were federal, and that the fifth was an internal University of Virginia grant originally awarded in 2001. The FATA was enacted in 2003, and it is not retroactive.

On August 20, 2010, Albermarle Circuit Court Judge Paul Peatross heard argument on when Cuccinelli should get the requested data, including emails between Mann and his research assistants, secretaries and 39 other scientists across the country. On August 30, 2010, the judge ruled that while the Virginia Attorney General could investigate state grants awarded to scientists, Cuccinelli and his staff failed to demonstrate that such an investigation was warranted in this case. “The nature of the conduct is not stated so that any reasonable person could glean what Dr. Mann did to violate the statute,” the judge wrote, “… The Court … understands the controversy regarding Dr. Mann’s work on the issue of global warming. However, it is not clear what he did that was misleading, false or fraudulent in obtaining funds from the Commonwealth of Virginia.” At this point, Cuccinelli can either rewrite the civil investigative demand or appeal the decision. Cuccinelli has filed a notice of appeal of the judge's ruling.

On September 29, 2010 Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli sent a new civil subpoena to the University of Virginia renewing a demand for documents related to the work of Mann that was stymied when a judge blocked his previous request. Cuccinelli has narrowed his request, and has now limited the request to documents related to a grant that funded research unrelated to climate change. However, the demand seeks emails between Mann and 39 other climate change scientists. Mann has been previously investigated by those who, like Cuccinelli, do argue that the science behind global warming is sound. The Washington Post described Cuccinelli's actions as an "anti-climate science crusade" and expressed fears that it was a "fishing expedition designed to intimidate and suppress honest research and the free exchange of ideas upon which science and academia both depend — all because he does not like what science says about climate change".

2010: Privacy in schools
On November 24 2010, Cuccinelli issued a legal opinion with regards to the searching of students' cell phones by police, school administrators, and teachers. He opined that such authorities could search students' cell phone on the basis of reasonable suspicions in order to deter cyberbullying and sexting. However, the ACLU and the Rutherford Institute stated that Cuccinelli's opinion was in error, lacking a legal foundation.

On January 28, 2011, Cuccinelli issued a legal opinion saying that school systems could not charge students the $75 testing fee when students take Advance Placement (AP) tests. Typically, AP courses are offered to academically advanced high school students to teach college-level materials. At the end of the course, students take a nationally-administered AP test, and can receive college credit if the test score meets a specified level. Cuccinelli claimed that public schools are required to provide a free education, so schools can not charge the exam fee on students taking the AP class.

2007: Usury
Since 2007, the Virginia Attorney General's Office has negotiated settlements with eight auto-title lenders to provide refunds or interest rate reductions of almost $8 million. The office filed a lawsuit on May 18, 2010 against CNC Financial Services, Inc., doing business as Cash-N-A-Flash, a Hampton-based auto “title lender,” for charging interest rates of 300 percent or more on its loans. This rate is alleged to exceed the 12 percent limit in the Virginia’s Consumer Finance Act. However, effective October 1, 2010, Virginia's interest rate limit will increase to 264 percent.

The Attorney General's Office filed two separate lawsuits against two Virginia Beach-based mortgage modification companies for charging customers up to $1,200 in illegal advance fees in exchange for allegedly helping to prevent foreclosure.

Utility regulation
Although Cuccinelli previously worked as an energy industry lobbyist, the Attorney General's Office continues to represent the public interest in rate cases before the State Corporation Commission.

Antitrust enforcement
A $173 million settlement was reached with six international manufacturers of computer chips. The settlement resolved claims that the companies engaged in a price-fixing arrangement that cost government purchasers and consumers millions of dollars in overcharges for their chips. Attorney General Cuccinelli and 32 other state attorneys general participated in the investigation and the settlement of a court case that was first filed in Court in 2006, before Cuccinelli took office.

Extradition of Jens Soering to Germany
Jens Soering, 43, the son of a German diplomat and former Jefferson scholar at the University of Virginia, was convicted in 1990 and sentenced to two life terms for the 1985 first-degree stabbing deaths of his then-girlfriend's parents, Derek and Nancy Haysom, in their Bedford County home. He is currently being held at the Buckingham Correctional Center in Dillwyn, VA. Former Gov. Timothy Kaine, on the last day of his administration in January, 2010, approved a request from the German government and asked the Justice Department to transfer Soering back to Germany to complete his sentence. Newly-elected Gov. Bob McDonnell, along with Cuccinelli, adamantly opposed the transfer. McDonnell formally notified the Justice Department just three days after taking office that it was imperative that Soering serve his time in Virginia and not in Germany, where he could be freed in two years. On July 7, 2010, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced that he will not consider transferring Soering to a prison in his home country without the state's "clear and unambiguous" consent and, thus, Soering will remain in prison in Virginia.

Campaign contributions
Cuccinelli has been criticized for his handling of $55,500 in campaign contributions from Bobby Thompson, who was a director of a veterans group now under investigation, the U.S. Navy Veterans Association. Thompson was Cuccinelli's second-largest campaign donor. After receiving the contribution, Cuccinelli met with Samuel F. Wright, a USNVA representative on February 15, 2010, to discuss legislation which had passed the State Senate that would exempt the group from having to register with Virginia regulators.

After an investigative report in the St. Petersberg Times in March 2010 raised questions about the Navy Veterans Association and Thompson, all other Virginia politicians, including Gov. Bob McDonnell, have given the contributions from Thompson to other veterans' organizations. At that time, Cuccinelli refused to do so, despite calls from Virginia Democrats. Cuccinelli's spokesman said "if Mr. Thompson was convicted of wrongdoing relative to the misappropriation of funds, and contributions to our campaign came from money that was supposed to go to active duty military or veterans, we would donate those contributions to military support organizations here in Virginia." Sen. Don McEachin asserted that the standard for donations should be "much higher than that." A month later in June, a Cuccinelli spokesman said $55,500 would be set aside in a restricted account pending the outcome of the investigation into Thompson and USNVA. On July 28, 2010, Cuccinelli announced that he will donate the $55,000 to veterans charities in Virginia. Cuccinelli stated that his decision was prompted by statements from Thompson's lawyers indicating that Thompson can no longer be located. The Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray announced that a nation-wide arrest warrant had issued for Bobby Thompson, who had stolen the identity and Social Security Number of a victim who was not connected to the USNVA. Corday stated, “We know he bilked Ohioans out of at least $1.9 million, and we estimate that nationally he collected at least $20 million.”

Female breast on Virginia seal
Cuccinelli caused a small controversy when he used an altered version of the historical state seal which shows Virtus, the Roman goddess of bravery and military strength, carrying a breastplate to cover her left breast on lapel pins he provided as gifts to his office staff. The current official seal shows Virtus holding a spear and her left breast is exposed. The original state seal was designed by George Wythe, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and adopted in 1776. The historic seal on which Cuccinelli's version is based is a Confederate-era seal that appeared on the flag of a Virginia unit in the American Civil War. Cuccinelli's spokesman, Brian Gottstein, said lapel pins with the breast covered were paid for by Cuccinelli’s political action committee, not with taxpayer funds. On May 3, following media coverage, Cuccinelli announced that he was dropping his "family friendly" version of the seal. He stated, "I cannot believe that joking with my staff about Virtue being a little more ‘virtuous’ in this antique version has become news."

Extraneous
(candidates for deletion)

On April 15, 2010, Cuccinelli attempted to speak at a Tea Party rally on the party's behalf, however he was denied.

External resources
Kenneth Cuccinelli's webpage http://www.cuccinelli.com/