Criminals, illegals and bureaucrats above the law In Virginia
- March 24, 2026
Michael Chamberlain, The Washington Times
“No one is above the law.” It’s a phrase that rolls effortlessly off the tongues of politicians. Whether they believe it is the issue.
Virginians, unfortunately, are learning that their elected “leaders” don’t believe it and that certain groups are above the law.
Among the slew of gun control bills offered this session, HB110 lists penalties for having a firearm near certain state government buildings, including when leaving a handgun unattended in a motor vehicle. However, Democrats tucked in a carve-out that explicitly put legislators above the law, stating that these penalties “shall not apply to any member of the General Assembly.” Only after it was exposed and received significant public pushback was the carve-out dropped from the bill.
That was mere hypocrisy. On the dangerous side, Virginia news has been rife with stories of criminals receiving slaps on the wrist and then proceeding to commit more heinous crimes.
Take the recent case of Abdul Jalloh, an illegal immigrant who was charged with murdering a woman at a Fairfax County bus stop. Before the murder, Mr. Jalloh had more than 40 charges against him in Fairfax County, including for rape, stabbings and other assaults. However, Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano dropped most of the previous charges, trotting out all manner of excuses about why his office couldn’t pursue prosecutions.
Worse, Mr. Descano’s office was specifically warned by Fairfax County Police about Mr. Jalloh in an email that said, “Unfortunately, based on [police’s] numerous dealings with him, it is not a question of if, but rather when he will maliciously wound (or worse) again.”