Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, others sound off as Democrats block parole board nominees: 'This is shocking'

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Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears and more state leaders blasted Democrats for blocking nominees for the parole board, as the defeated vote means no individuals can currently get parole. 

The Virginia Senate voted 21-19 to block a resolution confirming four Youngkin appointees to the Parole Board last Thursday. Their vote was seemingly in retaliation for the Republican majority in the House of Delegates blocking 11 of former Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam's appointees last month. His nominees included Montgomery County Sheriff Hank Partin, Cheryl Nici-O’Connell, a former Richmond police officer who was wounded in a shooting, Charlottesville lawyer Tracy Banks and Carmen Williams, who previously worked with the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance, as reported by Fauquier Times.

Youngkin will be able to make new appointments to the Parole Board once the legislative session ends. But he cannot reappoint the same people rejected by the Senate.

"I think that the House needs to be taught a lesson," Sen. Adam Ebbin, D-Alexandria, said after the parole board vote.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, center, signs executive orders in the Governors conference room as Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, left, Suzanne Youngkin, Second from left, Attorney General Jason Miyares, second from right, and Secretary of the Commonwealth, Kay Cole James, right, look on at the Capitol Saturday Jan. 15, 2022, in Richmond, Va. (AP Photo/Steve Helber) (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

Youngkin said he was outraged by the vote.

"This is shocking," Youngkin said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "The Democrats are continuing to cover up a scandal of their own creation. The Democrat controlled parole board broke the law, put criminals ahead of victims, and tried to cover it all up. We will reform the parole board, expose those conspiring to hide this from public view, and stand up for victims rights."

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The day he was sworn in, Attorney General Jason Miyares opened an investigation into the controversial decisions made by the former Virginia Parole Board, including their failing to properly notify victims and prosecutors upon the release of criminals, some of whom were in jail for violent crimes. Miyares called their actions one of the "greatest scandals in Virginia political history."

Patrick Schooley Jr., for instance, was released from prison in April after receiving three life sentences for a1979 home invasion, rape and murder of 78-year-old Bessie Rountree. The victim’s family said they were never notified of the release. Another man, Vincent Martin, was freed from a Virginia prison last year after serving more than 40 years for murdering a Richmond police officer in 1979. An investigation conducted by Virginia’s Office of the Inspector General found that the board engaged in multiple violations of state law.

"The former Virginia Parole Board repeatedly broke the law when they released cop killers, murderers, rapists, and child abductors early, without notifying the victims," Miyares said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital. "Under the previous administration, we saw criminals put ahead of victims. This political stunt effectively ended parole in Virginia, hurting potential parolees, victims, their families, and our criminal justice system. I am confident Governor Youngkin’s nominees would hold the Parole Board to a higher standard, execute their jobs with professionalism, and serve Virginians well. The political games over the parole board must stop." 

SUFFOLK, VIRGINIA - OCTOBER 25:  Virginia Republican Attorney General candidate Jason Miyares speaks during a campaign rally for Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin at the Nansemond Brewing Station on October 25, 2021 in Suffolk, Virginia. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Democrats have long supported criminal justice reform, frequently coming under attack from Republicans for policies they say allowed violent criminals back out on the street.

The topic was prominent in the 2020 Democrat primary, with candidates from Joe Biden to Cory Booker, Tulsi Gabbard and Kamala Harris touting lower sentences or pardons for drug-related crimes.

Accident or crime scene cordon tape, police line do not cross. It is nighttime, emergency lights of police cars flashing blue, red and white in the background. (iStock)

In 2018, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, D-N.Y., tweeted, "Criminal Justice reform is long past due. I support efforts to reduce our prison population by 50%."

Last year, she called for the abolition of the "carceral system," which she said is "designed to trap Black and Brown men."

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An opinion piece published in The Washington Post claimed that Virginia Republicans "misread Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s razor-thin 64,000 vote margin as a mandate to reinstate the war on drugs and criminalize everyday Virginians."

Yet last week in Virginia, Democrats were the party that, according to Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears, R.,, were "playing with people’s lives" by rejecting Youngkin’s parole board nominees.