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Morrissey banned from jail and changes his story as to why he was there.
Henrico County Sheriff Alisa Gregory has banned state Sen. Joe Morrissey (D) from entering the jail due to him leaving his children unattended in the lobby while he meets with incarcerated individuals.
From the Richmond Times-Dispatch: Gregory in a statement Tuesday said Morrissey came to Regional Jail West at about 11 a.m. Saturday with three young children “and proceeded to leave them unattended in the lobby while he and an associate met with a client in our custody.” Gregory said sheriff’s office staff told Morrissey that the jail’s policy requires that children are always accompanied by an adult.
“Despite our staff’s efforts, Mr. Morrissey refused repeated requests to comply and eventually became verbally abusive, made threatening remarks and acted in an aggressive manner to a lieutenant,” Gregory said. “Due to his actions, Mr. Morrissey’s privileges to visit Henrico’s Jail West and Jail East facilities will be suspended for 90 days.”
This is noteworthy because in his first statement on Tuesday, a spokesperson for Morrissey said he was at the jail “attending to Senate business.” Morrissey told the Richmond Times-Dispatch a different explanation Tuesday night, saying: “I helped the guy locate an attorney and I brought the attorney with me.”
Morrissey is not allowed to practice law in Virginia. Several sources have told Virginia Scope that Morrissey appears to use other attorneys’ presence in meetings and court as a way for him to still be involved in cases.
Morrissey tried to get his license to practice back but the Virginia Supreme Court denied his appeal in 2019. They gave three reasons.
From VPM in 2019: “Three points stand out with respect to an appropriate sanction,” the ruling said. “First, rather than take responsibility, Morrissey tries to shift the blame for his actions to others.”
“Second, these infractions occurred barely one year after Morrissey regained his law license. Third, and most significantly, we must weigh into the balance the long and notorious book of Morrissey’s disciplinary history - to which one more chapter has now been added.”
Senate Democrats appear poised to block Youngkin appointees again this year
A few gubernatorial appointees might now make it through the state Senate this week. Democrats in the state Senate removed UVA Board of Visitors member Bert Ellis from the list of Youngkin appointmentees that legislators are tasked with approving.
More from Virginia Mercury: Youngkin appointed Ellis, who runs a Georgia-based investment firm and lives in Hilton Head, South Carolina, to the UVA board last summer for a term set to expire in 2026. Ellis is also involved with the Jefferson Council, a conservative-leaning alumni group that says it’s “dedicated to preserving the legacy of Thomas Jefferson, the Lawn, the Honor Code, and the intellectual diversity one would expect from Mr. Jefferson’s university.” Ellis came under fire from students in 2020 following reports that he had brought a razor blade to campus grounds in the hopes of removing a “F— UVA” sign a student had put up on the door of one of the school’s prestigious Lawn residences. The Cavalier Daily, UVA’s student newspaper, recently published an editorial calling on the Senate to block Ellis’ appointment, pointing to its own reporting about actions Ellis took nearly 50 years ago when he was involved with a student group responsible for organizing debates and other on-campus events.
Democrats also removed State Health Commissioner Colin M. Greene, who was reprimanded by the Virginia Board of Health last year.
Youngkin’s spokesperson Macaulay Porter responded with the following statement in support of Greene Wednesday: “Dr. Greene is well qualified to be commissioner, as a retired Army colonel, family physician, former public health director, and a dedicated public servant with a long record of service to the Commonwealth.”
A potential 2024 challenger to Tim Kaine for the US Senate, Hung Cao was just named the honorary chairman for the Unleash America PAC. Cao will join Blaise Hazelwood, who serves as the Executive Director of Unleash America.
From the Unleash America PAC website: “In the last decade, there’s been a pervasive narrative in our society that being American is something to be ashamed of and that our great American Experiment is failing. This defeatist attitude, perpetuated by elected leaders on the Left in Washington and Richmond, has led to a severe decline in the classroom, the economy, and our American culture.”
Guest OP-ED: Cover all kids now, or pay the price later on: my healthcare story - Cover All Kids
My name is Onion. I am a 26 years old, first-generation Korean-American immigrant. I live in Falls Church, VA right now and I have grown to love this area for the past 20 years.
I live 10 minutes away from the INOVA hospital. The fire departments, EMS, and other human services provided in Fairfax County are regarded as some of the best in the nation. However, people in this area still struggle to find basic healthcare resources because of their immigration statuses.
In Virginia, children who are citizens have an uninsurance rate of about 4%. But children who are undocumented have an uninsurance rate of 48% - 12 times more than citizen children. This should come at no surprise, since undocumented immigrants in Virginia aren’t eligible for Obamacare or Medicaid. And when parents have little to no options for health coverage through their jobs, what are their kids supposed to do?
Growing up, I was one of those kids. I grew up low-income and without health coverage because I was undocumented. I grew up knowing that going to a hospital during an emergency was not an option for me. I grew up my whole life without regular checkups, and the haunting realization that I had nothing to fall back on except luck when it came to my health.
I remember having to refuse an ambulance and refusing to go to that very INOVA hospital that I live 10 minutes away from. I remember breaking my ankle and having to find under-the-table treatment because the costs of medical bills would have been too much for my family to handle. I remember feeling like these were the best choices I could make to keep myself alive and make sure my family could still pay for rent and bills.
Children shouldn’t have to make these decisions. No child should worry about if their family has enough money to pay for their healthcare. Without more options, families like mine have to make difficult choices. Choices like putting food on the table or making sure their child is healthy.
We should all strive to take care of all children, regardless of their immigration status. Virginia lawmakers can choose to make this a reality by supporting a bill in our legislature right now: Senate Bill 1327. I support this bill because our children - children like me - deserve peace of mind. They deserve to live life confidently knowing that they are safe, that their health is covered, and that they have professionals ready to help them if they need it. The state would need to invest just $19 million over the next 2 years to make this a reality for over 13,000 kids. And, to that, I say this: if we don’t invest in our communities when they are young, we will have to pay for our complacency in the future.
