This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity. Read my profile of Virginia Del. Jay Jones here.
KELLEN SQUIRE: Del. Jones, thank you for taking the time to chat with me. You know, I think conventional wisdom for the (attorney general) race has you pegged as the “young progressive,” and I know some people say that for good, some as a sort of detriment. I’m just curious how would you respond to that, for better or worse?
DEL. JAY JONES: Well, I'd call it a badge of honor. I am not ashamed to be progressive. And I'm certainly excited about the opportunity to talk about these issues in this election, because I do believe that 2021 is going to be a turning point for this Commonwealth. It’s going to give us an opportunity to chart a new course—not just here in Virginia, but nationally—to really redefine who we are and what we value. And what we highlight here in Virginia, I think, as you've seen over the last few years, has really sort of laid the foundation for what happens nationally. And so I believe we’re going to have a transformational election: first in June, and then in November.
KS: Either in the time you've been a delegate, or the work you’ve done as a community organizer or attorney, what's the single most consequential piece of legislation or case you've worked on in your career? And how does that inform your priorities as the next attorney general?
JJ: Well, for me, it’s been my work on the Ashanti Alert, which was a bill that I introduced and got passed in my first session back in 2018.
By the way of background, there was a young woman who was 18 years old, who was abducted from her job at Naval Station Norfolk, and tragically was taken across state lines and was murdered. And her family came to us, because they felt very strongly that if there had been an alert system for missing persons, akin to an Amber Alert or a Silver Alert, that they might have been able to put some machinery into place that would have gotten her home or found her faster.
We know that the success rate of bringing people back is higher, and by far the most critical, in the first 48 hours. So we passed a bill that brings in law enforcement and local news media to put these alerts out. So that was a real accomplishment on its own, something that we know will help people—but then, it was actually introduced at the federal level by Sen. Mark Warner as well.
The bottom line is that it’s about protecting people, which is exactly what the attorney general’s office is about, and exactly what our campaign is about. Looking after those who feel lost, forgotten, who don't know what (the AG’s office) can do for them, because it is an incredibly powerful office in standing up for the little guy, standing up for the people who have not always had a fair shake.
KS: What is the most important event that you've seen for the past decade that impacts Virginia? Or what small thing in the last five to 10 years was much more pivotal than we think, even if that impact hasn't hit yet?
JJ: You know, that's a fascinating question. Hmm.
I think, if we can go back a decade, we can go back five years, I think that the way that we have sort of reoriented ourselves on criminal justice as a society, broadly, is going to be one of the things that we look back on and say “This might have had a huge outsized impact,” rather than one particular bill.
And because of the events of the last several years, and what I hope to be a part of going forward, we really need to reassess the Code of Virginia, to make sure that it's working for everybody and not treating people differently just because of the color of their skin or where they come from.
We’ve had a tremendous amount of wins in (the legislative) session. And whether it's reforming probation, or giving juveniles a chance to have fair hearings, their review hearings (which was a bill I introduced), we have an opportunity here to really pull the remnants of Jim Crow and the Black Codes out of our Code, entirely.
So I can't point to one particular piece of legislation that I would say is so pivotal, but I think taking all of the things that we've done over the last couple of years, together, has set us up for a wonderful opportunity to really continue to build on that as we look ahead.
KS: What is the biggest challenge facing the Commonwealth?
JJ: Hands down, I think it's how we’re going to protect the civil rights of our citizens. That's why I was so vocal in calling for the creation of the Civil Rights Division in the attorney general's office, even starting last summer, and picking up that drumbeat even more in the fall. Frankly, what we saw last year in 2020, with George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, that could happen here in Virginia. It almost did! We had a motorist, an active-duty military officer, who was ripped out of the vehicle by a police officer.
And so for me, is making sure that every Virginia knows that we are standing there fighting for their civil rights day in and day out. And we need a Civil Rights Office that's got teeth, that has investigatory and enforcement mechanisms embedded within that office, so that we can go root out cases of institutional racism, whether it's in law enforcement, housing, or financial institutions, and beyond. And so, frankly, I think we have reached a moment where our citizens are demanding that we step up and not just pay lip service to that. Right after a tragedy, right after an unfortunate incident, they want someone who is going to really walk the walk, and who is really going to put their money where their mouth is, and say, look: We are committed to protecting civil rights, here in Virginia, day in and day out. And that commitment from my attorney general's office will be unflinching.
KS: Virginia is often seen as the first, I hate to say, post-Trump election, because Trump was a symptom, not the disease itself. So let’s say the first post-Biden election. So there’s a lot on the line right here in the Commonwealth. How does that impact your view on this race and this year?
JJ: Well, I think you're right, and that all eyes will be on Virginia, in 2021, for a variety of reasons. But I think that it's mainly because Virginia is the vanguard of the South, right? Of the old Confederacy. And yet, over the last several years, we have put in place some policies that I think even just four or five years ago, people would have thought to be unthinkable.
Virginia is rapidly growing. It’s rapidly diversifying. This is not the Commonwealth of 2017, or 2013, of my parents’ generation. This is a place that is diverse, inclusive, and welcoming. And as we look ahead, Virginia has got to have leaders that reflect that diversity in our makeup and our trajectory. And I think that inspires people. And I hope to be a part of that.
We've never had a Black attorney general here in Virginia, and I think it's really important for us to think about the prospect of having someone who looks like what our justice system has oppressed for the last 400 years become the face of that system. That sends a signal not just to folks in Virginia, but across the country about who we are and what we value and where we are going.
KS: I’ve heard a lot of people say, given your age, or whatever the case may be, “He’s so young. Why doesn’t he wait his turn?” And I’d just like to get your thoughts on that.
JJ: Well, I think you’re right. I’ve definitely heard people say, “Jay, you're young. Wait your turn!” And I always hate when people say that because one, I wonder if they would say that to me if I wasn't a young Black guy. But to these seats, these offices? They’re earned. They're not given. They're not entitled to any one person. They're earned, a trust given by the people of the Commonwealth. And what I think is special about Virginia, when I think is special about this country is that if you feel like you have the vision, energy, passion, conviction for a particular office, and you feel like you can make a difference, you can put yourself up and you can offer yourself to the people to say, “hey, look, this is an opportunity for you.”
And I think that's a good thing. And so, people have been told to “wait their turn” all throughout history. And I think that is a way for people to continue to have these hold on offices. When we want different faces, we want fresh perspectives, we want new voices, we're well served by that. And so I think 2021 is the time when we have the capacity, as Virginians, to rise to meet this moment and continue to build upon where we are going, which is a diverse, rapidly growing state with voices from all across the spectrum. And it's time for us to really highlight those voices.
And I think I, with my lived experience and my professional experience, represent part of what is this new Virginia and the future of Virginia. And I think if we wait any longer, we might end up going backwards instead of forwards. I want to continue to push that momentum and continue to push Virginia in the right direction, and so I think now is the time and that's why this candidacy now is not only historic, it's special and it's continuing to gain momentum each and every day.
KS: Building off of that, I guess my final question is, why: Why is now the time for Jay Jones?
JJ: I think Virginia is at a crossroads. We have an opportunity to really redefine ourselves. Are we going to think about where we are going, or think about where we have been? I think this Commonwealth is ready for progressive leadership. It’s ready for young leadership. It’s ready for leadership from people of color. And I hope to be a part of that.
I think that my lived experience as a Black man in this Commonwealth, the descendant of slaves, five generations back—I think that's really important. My grandfather was a pioneering civil rights attorney, who, with my dad and my uncle, integrated schools in Norfolk. So I recognize that I am standing on the shoulders of those giants. So it's never lost on me about how they feel, and what they might think, about the prospect of their descendant being the first Black attorney general in Virginia's history.
I think if you want to talk about justice reform, talk about energy and environment, talk about worker protections—because that's what we hear on the campaign trail, as we've gone around in 2019, physically 2020, virtually and distantly—you should vote for Jay Jones, because my commitment to those areas has been unflinching.
But even more than that. This, like we said earlier, is the first election since Donald Trump. And now, we don't have to worry about what's happening in Washington every single day. Of course, we have to keep an eye on what's happening there, but the current administration isn’t engaged in a never-ending crisis threatening to implode our republic. So right now, we really have an opportunity to recommit, and reprioritize the people of Virginia. To look inward and say, “How can we use this office to lift people up and make sure that they feel as if we are working for them each and every day?”
That's why I’ve proposed a series of satellite (attorney general) offices all across the Commonwealth, in the lost and forgotten areas, like the Eastern shore, like Southside, like the Shenandoah Valley. That's why we proposed the creation of a Voter Protection and Election Integrity unit, because the right to vote is sacred. And when we talk about civil rights, we can't talk about that without voting. And so the priorities of right now, right? Meeting this moment is really important.
And that's why I think this is the perfect time for me—this particular election, for this particular office. And I hope that, like Gov. Northam, like Congresswoman Elaine Luria, like 30 plus members of the General Assembly, like former Attorney General Mary Sue Terry, folks will say, “We are ready for this!” Because it's been far too long, where we haven’t had a Black person in the attorney general's office, and I think that's really, really important for us as we chart ahead in this new Virginia decade, standing shoulder to shoulder.