Virginia Law

Gov. Robert F. McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, had about 200 guests to Virginia's historic Executive Mansion for their daughter Cailin's wedding in 2011. The menu included fresh poached jumbo shrimp, bruschetta topped with Virginia tomatoes and stuffed free-range chicken breast. The $15,000 worth of fine dining came courtesy of Jonnie R. Williams Sr., the chief executive of a company that has made major contributions to McDonnell's campaigns and that is the subject of a federal securities...

A Richmond prosecutor is investigating whether Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell violated state gift and disclosure laws — a probe that was initiated by state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II. Cuccinelli (R) confirmed Wednesday that he asked Richmond Commonwealth's Attorney Michael Herring to conduct a review of McDonnell's annual economic disclosure forms last November. Cuccinelli's office had previously declined to confirm such a probe, but he acknowledged it after Herring released information about the review...

Thanks to the vagaries of winter weather and the peculiarities of state law, students and teachers in Loudoun County are returning to class Monday while most of their counterparts across Northern Virginia spend another week sleeping in and savoring summer. Loudoun Superintendent Edgar B. Hatrick III has long argued in favor of sending students to school in late August to maximize instructional time before spring standardized tests. Maryland and D.C. schools typically start in August.

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The Virginia Beach SPCA has taken in nine unweaned puppies that a man was trying to give away in the shelter's parking lot. The shelter also is caring for the 10-day-old puppies' mother. Virginia law prohibits giving, selling or trading any animal that is less than 6 weeks old. The shelter says in a news release that the puppies were piled on top of each other in a waste basket. Shelter staff confronted the man Tuesday after they were notified that he...

Here's my nightmare scenario for the November election: President Obama wins the popular vote, but Mitt Romney triumphs in the electoral college amid massive controversies over whether new, Republican-backed voting laws helped him win in decisive swing states. That combination of events would stir outrage and raise questions about the election's legitimacy that would dwarf the uproar surrounding the 2000 Florida recount that put George W. Bush in the White House. Democrats would feel robbed — albeit by legal means — for...

Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell has said his daughter and her husband paid for their own wedding . So a $15,000 check from a major campaign donor to pay for the food at the affair was a gift to the bride and groom and not to him and therefore did not have to be publicly disclosed under the law, the governor says. But documents obtained by The Washington Post show that McDonnell signed the catering contract, making him financially responsible for the 2011 event....

Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell took a lake-house vacation in 2011 courtesy of the same major campaign donor who paid for the food at the wedding of the governor's daughter that summer. When the July vacation ended, the McDonnell family borrowed a Ferrari owned by Star Scientific's chief executive Jonnie R. Williams Sr. for the three-hour ride back to Richmond. The model had a retail price of $190,000. McDonnell's spokesman said the governor and his family have taken a vacation at Smith...

As a Foggy Bottom resident, area entertainment executive and chairman of the District's alcohol control board, Charles Brodsky seemed an unlikely candidate to become a Virginia law enforcement officer. But in October, an Alexandria judge signed a three-page order appointing Brodsky a " special conservator of the peace ," giving him the authority to make arrests without a warrant, direct traffic, use flashing red and white police lights, and carry a gun on duty. The...

The owners of a vineyard who landed Virginia's first deal to sell wine in China were so thankful for the help of the state officials who negotiated the agreement that they decided to show their gratitude. Barboursville Vineyards allowed Gov. Robert F. McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, to host their 35th wedding anniversary party at the vineyard for free. The party for about 100 close friends and relatives took place just a few hours after the couple...

E. Lewis Reynolds was just a boy when his cousin hit him in the head with a rock, nearly killing him and triggering epileptic-like convulsions that lingered for some years. His condition didn't stop him from enlisting in the Marine Corps or serving his country in Korea and Vietnam during a 30-year military career. But it was enough to classify a teenager as a "defective person" and order his compulsory sterilization under an infamous 1924 Virginia law...

The owners of a vineyard who landed Virginia's first deal to sell wine in China were so thankful for the help of the state officials who negotiated the agreement that they decided to show their gratitude. Barboursville Vineyards allowed Gov. Robert F. McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, to host their 35th wedding anniversary party at the vineyard for free. The party for about 100 close friends and relatives took place just a few hours after the couple participated in the 2011...

RICHMOND, Va. — Gov. Bob McDonnell is launching an ambitious campaign to match more than 1,000 children in foster care with 1,000 adoptive parents. The "Virginia Adopts: Campaign for 1,000" will get its official start Friday at the Executive Mansion in Richmond. In advance of the event, Equality Virginia and the Family Equality Council are calling on McDonnell to open adoption to all qualified parents. A Virginia law allows private adoption...

A former chef at the Virginia governor's mansion asked a judge Monday to dismiss embezzlement charges against him, arguing that state Attorney General Ken T. Cuccinelli II has a series of conflicts of interest that have tainted the proceedings. Attorneys for chef Todd Schneider say that he told state and federal authorities more than a year ago that a major campaign donor of Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R) had paid $15,000 to cater the wedding of McDonnell's...

The April 19 front-page article " McDonnell lake vacations were gifts from supporters " informed me that Virginia law requires the annual disclosure of gifts, with which Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R) complied, and "sets virtually no requirements for what level of detail needs to be revealed. " Moreover, "elected officials are allowed to accept gifts of any size, including vacations, provided they are annually disclosed. " The article devoted an expansive 1,100 words and a prominent position to what is...

Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell took a lake-house vacation in 2011 courtesy of the same major campaign donor who paid for the food at the wedding of the governor's daughter that summer. When the July vacation ended, the McDonnell family borrowed a Ferrari owned by Star Scientific's chief executive Jonnie R. Williams Sr. for the three-hour ride back to Richmond. The model had a retail price of $190,000. McDonnell's spokesman said the governor and his family have taken a vacation at Smith Mountain Lake near Roanoke...

RICHMOND — A senior Virginia Democrat spoke in favor Tuesday of closing the loophole that allows gifts to elected officials' immediate relatives to go unreported. "I think it needs to be closed," said Sen. A. Donald McEachin (D-Henrico), chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus. McEachin made the comment to reporters after being asked about the $15,000 payment a Virginia businessman made to cover catering costs at the June 2011 wedding of one of Gov. Robert F. McDonnell's daughters.

To many in Old Town Alexandria, the sex shop that opened recently on King Street is nothing short of scandalous, a historical desecration just blocks from the boyhood home of Robert E. Lee. But to Michael Zarlenga, it's justice. Zarlenga spent $350,000 on plans to expand his hunting and fishing store, the Trophy Room. He worked with city officials for almost two years and thought he had their support -- until the architectural review board told him he couldn't alter the historic property.

KEN CUCCINELLI II, the most overtly partisan attorney general in Virginia's history, has waged war on Obamacare, harassed climate-change scientists, sanctioned discrimination against homosexuals and embraced Arizona's (now mostly gutted) immigration law. He has clung to his post after declaring his candidacy for governor, thereby parting ways with past attorneys general, Republicans and Democrats alike, who resigned to run rather than entangle the office in politics. Now, true to this record, Mr. Cuccinelli (R)

Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell has said his daughter and her husband paid for their own wedding . So a $15,000 check from a major campaign donor to pay for the food at the affair was a gift to the bride and groom and not to him and therefore did not have to be publicly disclosed under the law, the governor says. But documents obtained by The Washington Post show that McDonnell signed the catering contract, making him financially responsible for the 2011 event. The governor made...

RICHMOND — Gov. Robert F. McDonnell declined to say Monday whether Star Scientific CEO Jonnie R. Williams Sr., who paid for catering expenses at the wedding of the governor's daughter , had provided other gifts to the McDonnell family. "Mr. Williams gave my daughter a wedding present," McDonnell (R) said in response to a question about gifts to other family members. "And as you know, under the reporting laws, the gifts that come to me, I report. And I've been doing this for 22 years.