Virginia state lawmaker, a jailed sex fiend and pedophile, has won his seat back in a special election after previously resigning when his sex scandal came to light making him the first lawmaker to win reelection while serving a jail sentence.
57-year-old Joseph Morrisey, was convicted of sleeping with his 17-year-old African American receptionist and also being in possession of child pornography when police found the girl’s naked pictures in his phone which he sent to another friend. Last year, he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of the delinquency of a minor to avoid felony charges and was sentenced to 12 months in jail with a six month suspension but he had arranged a work-release where he can still practice law and run for office.
The funny thing about it is this is not his first time getting in trouble with the law. Throughout his stretch of being a lawmaker he has had his law license taken and ironically reinstated, he was also held in contempt of court over ten times and was arrested or jailed about five times. One time he even brought an AK-47 assault rifle to the House of Delegates to prove what he thought was a good argument for gun control.
According to the NYTimes,
“Mr. Morrissey’s election tonight does not change the fact that his actions fall grievously short of the standards of a public servant in the House of Delegates,” William J. Howell, the Republican speaker of the House, said in a prepared statement Tuesday night. On Wednesday, he added, “It is said quite often, public service is a privilege. None of us are entitled to the seats we hold in this body.”
It is said that minority voters who weren’t comfortable with other delegates who were running for his seat at the time was the blame for his reelection. “Joe was very well known for being attentive to the community,” said Paul Goldman, a former chairman of the state Democratic Party and Joseph’s law partner. “We all have issues with the other stuff, but when it comes down to a vote people want to know who is going to stand up for their interests.”
If you look through the media reports its even funnier how they suppress certain facts in this circumstance, including the fact that the 17-year-old girl was an African American. I never thought of Virginia as much of a forgiving state, I wonder what kind of message his reelection sends to people. Do we need to do better with voting or is it another way to show how unjust the justice system is? Let’s talk below.
Sources Sited: Bossip.com, NYTimes.com, Redstate.com, WashingtonPost.com
- TSR Staff Debra Oh, @the_ebony_issue on Instagram, @tsr_ebony_issue on Twitter!!
