Del. Joe Morrissey writes Cuccinelli, alerting the AG to the conflicts of interests in the Star case

In a letter pointed out by Paul Goldman and Lowell Feld, Del. Joe Morrissey recently wrote to Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, ‘alerting’ the attorney general to the improper rendering of legal services in the Virginia tax lawsuit against Star Scientific.

The opening lines of Del. Morrissey’s letter begin: “I hope that this letter finds you well and enjoying this pleasant spring weather.  With respect to the above referenced matter, a reading of §2.2-510 of the Code of Virginia, 1950, as amended, reveals that your recent appointment of Mr. Rosenthal and Mr. Hurd to represent the Commonwealth in the state tax lawsuit against Star Scientific is improper and in violation of the Virginia Code.” The rest of the letter can be found at the blog, Blue Virginia.

What is most telling about Del. Morrissey’s letter, aside from the legal forcefulness of its language, is the civility that infuses each paragraph.

Because Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli is running for the soon-to-be open position of Virginia governor and he is, for all intents and purposes, a stark representation of how politics has changed over the past few years (i.e., a radical right-winger), the scandal surrounding Star Scientific and Cuccinelli’s role in it has generated a great deal of bitter partisan language that has only exasperated the animosity between Democrats and Republicans in Virginia’s legislature.

While the very thought of Ken Cuccinelli becoming Virginia’s next governor sends chills down my spine, getting into the mud with Cuccinelli isn’t the most effective path forward in this gubernatorial campaign or for Virginian’s more generally. If anyone needs a more vivid example, simply look at the U.S. Congress.

I’ve called Cuccinelli names before (and will most likely do so again in the future), but I’ve never forgotten that civility is the most effective, and maybe the only way, forward for our republican form of government. Because in a republic, we have to be able to constructively talk with one another and not at one another or past one another.

Del. Morrissey’s letter represents a step away from the current toxic and overly partisan political environment: a fair-minded, civil, and legal argument that seeks to align the public actions of one public official to the laws of Virginia. Whatever your party colors are, it is examples like these that trump party affiliation for a deeper sense of what it means to be a member of a republican form of government.