Countywide

The Virginia Supreme Court’s nullification on Friday (May 8) of the redistricting referendum narrowly approved by voters last month left local and state-level Democrats reeling.

The Fairfax County Democratic Committee blasted the ruling as “a stunning betrayal” of the majority of Virginia voters — including nearly 70% of Fairfax County voters — who backed the proposed constitutional amendment, which would’ve let the General Assembly implement new Congressional districts drawn to favor Democrats in 10 out of 11 seats.


Countywide

By DAVID A. LIEB and GEOFF MULVIHILL Associated Press

The Virginia Supreme Court on Friday struck down a voter-approved Democratic congressional redistricting plan, delivering another major setback to the party in a nationwide battle against Republicans for an edge in this year’s midterm elections.


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By MARK SHERMAN Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court’s conservative majority on Wednesday allowed Virginia to resume its purge of voter registrations that the state says is aimed at stopping people who are not U.S. citizens from voting.


Countywide

WASHINGTON (AP) — Virginia on Monday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene to allow the state to remove roughly 1,600 voters from its rolls that it believes are noncitizens.

The request comes after a federal appeals court unanimously upheld a federal judge’s order restoring the registrations of those 1,600 voters, whom the judge said were illegally purged from the rolls under an executive order by the state’s Republican governor.


News

Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology’s current admissions policy will remain in place after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to consider a lawsuit alleging that it discriminates against Asian students.

The Supreme Court denied a petition for a hearing today (Tuesday) by the Coalition for TJ, an advocacy group that sued the Fairfax County School Board in 2021 after the admissions process for the highly competitive magnet school was revised with the goal of diversifying the student body.


Countywide

The Coalition for TJ is petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to consider its lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology’s admissions policy, which was revised in 2020 with the goal of diversifying the student body.

In the petition filed Monday (Aug. 21), the advocacy group argues that the changes approved by the Fairfax County School Board discriminate against Asian students, who saw their share of the magnet school’s incoming classes drop from more than 70% to closer to 60% in the past few years.


Countywide

(Updated at 2:25 p.m.) Fairfax County officials are hoping to clear up a legal kerfuffle over its zoning ordinance, which was readopted last week after getting voided by the Virginia Supreme Court earlier this year.

Before readopting a modernized version of the zoning ordinance — known as zMod — on May 9, the county filed a petition for a rehearing in the Supreme Court case Berry v. Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.


Countywide

A day after neighboring Arlington County made waves by ending single-family exclusive zoning, Fairfax County saw its own zoning reforms reversed two years after they were approved.

The Virginia Supreme Court declared the county’s Zoning Ordinance Modification Project (zMOD) void yesterday (Thursday) because the new code was adopted at a mostly virtual meeting — a ruling could have consequences for other actions taken during the first years of the pandemic, as noted by Inside NoVA, which first reported the decision.


Countywide

Springfield Motorcyclist Dies After Burke Crash — Becoming the sixth non-pedestrian killed in a vehicle crash this year, Nema Mirsaeedi, 31, of Springfield died yesterday after being thrown from his motorcycle in a crash with a car attempting to turn into a shopping center on Burke Center Parkway. The crash occurred at 6:39 p.m. on Sunday (July 3) and remains under investigation. [FCPD]

County Responds to Supreme Court Security Request — “Supreme Court Marshal Gail Curley originally penned the letter, asking that state and local law enforce their respective picketing laws near the homes of Supreme Court justices…Fairfax County officials say they already received the letter and that their stance remained unchanged.” [WTOP]


Countywide

(Updated at 7:30 p.m.) The U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade today (Friday) in a landmark decision that will effectively ban abortion in more than a dozen states.

Abortion remains legal in Virginia, which doesn’t have so-called “trigger laws” that would go into effect with the court’s ruling.


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