by Rich Anderson
When Virginia voters sent Governor Glenn Youngkin, Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears, Attorney General Jason Miyares, and a Republican House Majority to Richmond last year, it was to clean up the mess that years of Democratic rule had left. A major part of that mission was doing something about the epidemic of crime that had been Democrats had allowed to spread unchecked in our Commonwealth.
But while Virginia Republicans are now doing the hard work of restoring law and order and holding criminals accountable, they’re facing roadblocks from the very people who are charged with keeping Virginians safe. No one has been more guilty of this than Steve Descano, Fairfax County Commonwealth’s radically-progressive Democrat prosecutor who has worked at every turn to undermine justice and put criminals ahead of victims.
The job of a prosecutor is to be a minister of justice and a voice for victims. But under Mr. Descano, the Office of the Fairfax Commonwealth’s Attorney has become a de facto secondary defense counselor for accused and even convicted criminals. Earlier this month, Mr. Descano announced a new program to erase criminal records in Fairfax County. Unwilling to stop or deter crime, Mr. Descano now pretends it doesn’t happen at all.
Instead of targeting criminals, Mr. Descano has targeted Fairfax County law enforcement, viewing brave police officers and not violent criminals as the enemy. When an individual who was high on PCP and cocaine approached a Fairfax County police officer in a threatening manner and was tased, Mr. Descano brought charges against the officer. When a racially diverse jury quickly found the officer not guilty of wrongdoing last month – after a judge faulted the Fairfax County prosecutor’s office for withholding key evidence in the trial for over a year – Mr. Descano called the verdict “disappointing,” making his anti-police sentiments all too clear.
At the same time, Mr. Descano’s office has been shamefully lenient toward actual criminals, often reducing charges first brought by his predecessor, Raymond Morrogh – who was himself known for being soft on crime. Last September, Mr. Descano’s office intervened in the case of Oscar Zaldivar, a man charged with repeatedly sexually abusing a young relative over the course of several years. Morrogh had offered a plea deal that would put Zaldivar in prison for 30 years – already less than the life sentence that usually comes with such crimes. But Mr. Descano lowered the plea deal even further to 17 years in prison, a move that was so shocking the judge in the case told the victim’s family that “your government has failed you.”
In another case involving the rape of a child, a judge rejected a plea deal offered by Mr. Descano’s office that would have required the offender to serve a mere three years in prison, saying that the sentence did not “remotely reflect the magnitude of the defendant’s misconduct.” According to some reports, Mr. Descano has even told his prosecutors “don’t listen to victims” because they are “overly dramatic.”
But to Mr. Descano, allowing child sex predators off the hook is part of what he calls “criminal justice reform,” which is progressive Democrat jargon for destroying justice altogether. The “reforms” that Mr. Descano is proud of include eliminating cash bail (allowing violent criminals back out onto the street), prosecuting felony crimes as misdemeanors, and calling for an outright ban on mandatory minimum sentences.
Unsurprisingly, 29 prosecutors have departed Mr. Descano’s office since he took over in 2020, including four of five Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorneys. Prosecutors choose to work with victims of crimes because they want to see justice served, but Mr. Descano’s radical crusade demands that they dispense with justice in the name of “equity” and ending supposed “disparities” in sentencing. One prosecutor who worked under Mr. Descano also recently raised the alarm that attorneys working in the office are “overwhelmed and untrained,” as many have been asked to work on cases with which they are unfamiliar. In addition to having absolutely no concern for the rule of law, it seems Mr. Descano is also inept when it comes to managing his office.
Democrat extremist Steve Descano’s misapplication of justice is making the lives of everyone in Fairfax County – and the rest of Virginia – less secure. Thankfully, Attorney General Jason Miyares, Republican lawmakers, and courageous individuals within the criminal justice system in Fairfax County are working to hold Mr. Descano accountable and stop his miscarriage of justice. As always, exposing radical Democrat policies and their tragic effects on families and communities is the best way to illustrate for voters why progressive policies are doomed to fail.
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Rich Anderson is a retired 30-year Air Force colonel who served for eight years in the Virginia General Assembly. He now chairs the Republican Party of Virginia.
Photo “Steve Descano” by Steve Descano.
