Steve Shannon

Stephen Charles "Steve" Shannon (born April 5, 1971) is an American attorney and Circuit Court Judge in the 19th Judicial Circuit of Virginia. From 2004 to 2009, Shannon represented Virginia's 35th District in the Virginia House of Delegates. He was the 2009 Democratic nominee for Attorney General of Virginia.[1] He was defeated by his opponent, Republican Ken Cuccinelli.

Stephen C. Shannon
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates
from the 35th district
In office
January 3, 2004 – January 13, 2009
Preceded byJeannemarie Devolites Davis
Succeeded byMark Keam
Personal details
Born
Stephen Charles Shannon

(1971-04-05) April 5, 1971
Berkeley, California, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseAbigail Suzanne Hochberg
ResidenceDunn Loring, Virginia
Alma materFairfield University (B.A.)
Georgetown University (M.P.P.)
University of Virginia (J.D.)
ProfessionLawyer

Early life

Shannon graduated from Fenwick High School in 1989, received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Fairfield University in 1993, a Master of Public Policy degree from Georgetown University in 1996, and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1999 where he was a John M. Olin Fellow and Scholar in Law and Economics and a member of the Virginia Law Review.[2]

In 2001, Shannon and his wife Abby co-founded the Metropolitan Washington AMBER (America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response) Plan, a local extension of the nationwide child recovery program.[3] Shannon's plan for a regional AMBER system successfully coordinated local law enforcement, media, and community groups to create a rapid-response child recovery network. In recognition of this, the Shannons received Fairfax County's highest public service award.[4]

Shannon served as Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney for Fairfax County where he worked with the state's chief felony prosecutor. Shannon devoted much of his time to consumer protection and child safety issues, frequently prosecuting criminals charged with assault, child molestation, rape and domestic violence. Additionally, Shannon prosecuted one of the state's largest embezzlement cases in an effort to combat institutional corruption.[5]

From 2002 to 2003 Shannon served as Vice-Chairman of the Fairfax County Consumer Protection Commission, where he was responsible for protecting citizens from illegal, fraudulent or deceptive consumer practices.[2]

Legislative career

In 2003 Shannon was elected to represent the 35th District in Virginia's House of Delegates. He was re-elected in 2005 and 2007 (winning with 60% and 63%, respectively).[6] He was succeeded in the house by fellow Democrat Mark L. Keam.

Shannon introduced several public safety bills in the Virginia House of Delegates. These included stronger witness protections in cases of violent crime, increased penalties for gang-related violence, Reform of Emergency Response Plans in the wake of the Virginia Tech tragedy, and expansion of Virginia's Rape Shield Statute, and making it a crime to evade sex offender registration[7][8][9][10][11]

Shannon introduced legislation intended to protect Virginians against identity theft – specifically requiring database managers to implement security measures to guard against unauthorized access to customer information.[12]

In January 2009, Shannon responded to the economic crisis by introducing a bill with the intention of increasing government accountability, improving budget oversight, and reducing wasteful bureaucratic spending. Shannon's House Resolution was intended to repair the state's budget shortfalls, strongly recommending that the House of Delegates implement cost-saving measures which he deemed necessary.[13]

2009 Virginia Attorney General Election

Shannon ran as a Democrat for Virginia Attorney General in 2009. His platform included increased restrictions on sex offenders use of Social Networking services[14] and several measures to deter drunk driving, and attempting to curb gang recruitment.[15] He defeated attorney John P. Fishwick, Jr. in the Democratic primary.[16] In the general election, his candidacy was endorsed by The Washington Post and The Virginian-Pilot. He was defeated by Republican candidate Ken Cuccinelli on November 3, 2009.[17]

Electoral history
DateElectionCandidatePartyVotes %
Virginia House of Delegates, 35th district
Nov 4, 2003[18] General S C Shannon Democratic 9,151 51.90
R M Mcdowell Republican 8,478 48.08
Write Ins 4 0.02
Jeannemarie Devolites Davis was elected to the Senate; seat switched from Republican to Democratic
Nov 8, 2005[19] General S C Shannon Democratic 14,626 60.43
J E Hyland Republican 9,568 39.53
Write Ins 11 0.05
Nov 6, 2007[20] General Stephen C. Shannon Democratic 11,956 63.35
Arthur G. Purves Republican 6,900 36.56
Write Ins 15 0.07
Attorney General of Virginia
Nov 3, 2009[21] General Ken T. Cuccinelli II Republican 1,124,137 57.51
Stephen C. Shannon Democratic 828,687 42.39
Write Ins 1,772 0.09
Bob McDonnell resigned to run for Governor; office stayed Republican

See also

References
  1. "Steve Shannon, Attorney General". Archived from the original on 2008-12-20. Retrieved 2008-11-24.
  2. "Project Vote Smart: Steve Shannon Bio". Retrieved 2009-08-21.
  3. "Governor Kaine Promotes Initiative to Provide Wireless Amber Alerts". 2006-06-21.
  4. "Virginia House of Delegates, Steve Shannon". Retrieved 2009-08-21.
  5. "Steve Shannon, Attorney General – Fighting Crime". Archived from the original on 2009-04-03. Retrieved 2009-08-21.
  6. "Virginia Public Access Project, Stephen C Shannon Electoral History". Retrieved 2009-08-21.
  7. "HB 964 Sex offender registry; penalty for failure to register". 2008-01-09. Retrieved 2009-08-21.
  8. "HB 1857 Protective orders; issuance upon conviction in cases of family abuse". 2009-01-14. Retrieved 2009-08-21.
  9. "HB 2570 Victims of crime; right to nondisclosure of certain information". 2007-01-10. Retrieved 2009-08-21.
  10. "HB 969 Criminal street gangs; causing or encouraging acts rendering children delinquent". 2008-01-09. Retrieved 2009-08-21.
  11. "HB 2612 Emergency response plans; ensuring victims' rights". 2009-01-23. Retrieved 2009-08-21.
  12. "HB 971 Identity theft; notice of database breach". 2008-01-09. Retrieved 2009-08-21.
  13. "HJ 668 directed to study legislative efficiency and recommend improvements". 2009-01-14. Retrieved 2009-08-21.
  14. "Shannon 2009, Internet Predators Plan" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-10-05. Retrieved 2009-08-21.
  15. "Shannon 2009, Gangs Plan". Archived from the original on 2009-10-05. Retrieved 2009-09-23.
  16. "2009 Democratic Nomination Contest: Attorney General". www.vpap.org. Virginia Public Access Project. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  17. "Endorsements". Archived from the original on 2009-10-26. Retrieved 2009-10-27.
  18. "General Election- November 4, 2003". Virginia State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved 2013-05-31.
  19. "General Election- November 8, 2005". Virginia State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on December 28, 2012. Retrieved 2013-05-31.
  20. "November 6, 2007 General Election Official Results". Virginia State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved 2013-05-31.
  21. "November 2009 General Election Official Results". Virginia State Board of Elections. Retrieved 2013-05-31.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.