FAIRFAX, Va. (Legal Newsline) - A campaign to recall Fairfax County Commonwealth Attorney Steve Descano started out as a protest of the prosecutor's lax law enforcement budget priorities, according to organizer Brenda Tillett.
But when Tillett and supporters at Stand Up Virginia say they saw a "complete disregard for victims and families," the group took a closer look at Descano's record - a first term prosecutor elected in 2019 on a platform of eliminating the death penalty, ending cash bail and stopping the prosecutor’s office from cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Stand Up Virginia's recall effort was announced on Monday, with a planned rally set for 5 p.m. Tuesday outside the Fairfax County Government Center. Tillett and others plan to call out Descano for his alleged failure to prosecute violent crimes, as well as his record of dismissing charges and reaching "inequitable" plea deals in cases involving child pornography, incestuous sexual assault of a minor, domestic violense, elder abuse and animal abuse.
"After failed attempts for almost a year imploring our local legislators to rein in his power through budget reductions, we now know that victims and their parents are being dismissed, silenced and denigrated by Mr. Descano," Tillett said. "We are placing his removal in the hands of our citizens by launching a recall petition to ensure everyone is aware of the egregious nature of his actions."
Tillett said the recall effort involves securing approximately 30,000 signature petitions, or 10 percent of voters who cast ballots in the last election. She will also make her case before the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday night.
Descano responded with a statement calling the criticism of his office "fringe backlash."
“When I took office I promised our community I would hold police accountable and reform our criminal justice system," Descano stated. "While this work is far from done, we have made considerable progress – and transformative change often elicits fringe backlash. This effort is nothing more than a far-right, partisan effort to stand in the way of the criminal justice reforms that the vast majority of our community supports.”
Descano, a Democrat, is a former federal prosecutor and Army helicopter pilot who defeated incumbent independent Jonathan Fahey with the help of a political action committee funded by progressive billionaire George Soros, according to a Nov. 5, 2019 Washington Post report.