Prosecutorial Nullification in VA

A small minority of prosecutors in Virginia have stated that they will not prosecute violations of the "facially unconstitutional" 'assault weapons' ban.

In a letter addressed to the County Sheriff shared with 29News, Powhatan Commonwealth’s Attorney Rob Cerullo said “significant” parts of that law are “facially” unconstitutional, citing, in part, the famous Heller ruling.

“The provisions mentioned above place both my office and yours in an untenable position,” Cerullo wrote. “We can either honor our oath to preserve the Constitution, or enforce statutes which are clearly unconstitutional.”

In a public letter, Pulaski Commonwealth’s Attorney Justin Griffith wrote that he will not take “law abiding citizens as of June 30 and criminalize that same behavior on July 1.”

“The General Assembly just really overstepped,” van Cleave said. “What they passed in one year, other places would have probably taken a decade to do all of that. But they just crammed it down everybody’s throats.”

The state government says they expect prosecutors to enforce the laws whether they agree that the laws are constitutional or not.