Stephen Charles "Steve" Shannon (born April 5, 1971) is an American attorney and Circuit Court Judge in the 19th Judicial Circuit of Virginia. From 2004 to 2009, Shannon represented Virginia's 35th District in the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

. He was the 2009 Democratic nominee for

Attorney General of Virginia The attorney general of Virginia is an elected constitutional position that holds an executive office in the government of Virginia. Attorneys general are elected for a four-year term in the year following a presidential election. There are no ter ...

. He was defeated by his opponent, Republican Ken Cuccinelli.

Early life

Shannon graduated from Fenwick High School in 1989, received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree from

Fairfield University Fairfield University is a private Jesuit university in Fairfield, Connecticut. It was founded by the Jesuits in 1942. In 2017, the university had about 4,100 full-time undergraduate students and 1,100 graduate students, including full-time ...

in 1993, a Master of Public Policy degree from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

in 1996, and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

degree from the

University of Virginia School of Law The University of Virginia School of Law (Virginia Law or UVA Law) is the law school of the University of Virginia, a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson as part of his "academical v ...

in 1999 where he was a John M. Olin Fellow and Scholar in Law and Economics and a member of the Virginia Law Review. In 2001, Shannon and his wife Abby co-founded the Metropolitan Washington

AMBER Amber is fossilized tree resin that has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Much valued from antiquity to the present as a gemstone, amber is made into a variety of decorative objects."Amber" (2004). In Ma ...

(America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response) Plan, a local extension of the nationwide child recovery program. Shannon's plan for a regional AMBER system successfully coordinated local law enforcement, media, and community groups to create a rapid-response child recovery network. In recognition of this, the Shannons received Fairfax County's highest public service award. Shannon served as Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney for Fairfax County where he worked with the state's chief felony prosecutor. Shannon devoted much of his time to consumer protection and child safety issues, frequently prosecuting criminals charged with assault, child molestation, rape and domestic violence. Additionally, Shannon prosecuted one of the state's largest embezzlement cases in an effort to combat

institutional corruption Institutional corruption is the phenomenon in public bodies of placing the protection of reputation above fidelity to the truth, especially in the context of an independent or public inquiry. Institutional corruption is differentiated from corrup ...

. From 2002 to 2003 Shannon served as Vice-Chairman of the Fairfax County Consumer Protection Commission, where he was responsible for protecting citizens from illegal, fraudulent or deceptive consumer practices.

Legislative career

In 2003 Shannon was elected to represent the 35th District in Virginia's House of Delegates. He was re-elected in 2005 and 2007 (winning with 60% and 63%, respectively). He was succeeded in the house by fellow Democrat

Mark L. Keam Mark Lee Keam (born May 10, 1966) is a Korean American lawyer. He is a former member of the Virginia House of Delegates in the United States. A Democrat, Keam represented the 35th District, which encompassed a portion of Fairfax County, includ ...

. Shannon introduced several public safety bills in the Virginia House of Delegates. These included stronger witness protections in cases of violent crime, increased penalties for gang-related violence, Reform of Emergency Response Plans in the wake of the Virginia Tech tragedy, and expansion of Virginia's Rape Shield Statute, and making it a crime to evade sex offender registration Shannon introduced legislation intended to protect Virginians against

identity theft Identity theft occurs when someone uses another person's personal identifying information, like their name, identifying number, or credit card number, without their permission, to commit fraud or other crimes. The term ''identity theft'' was co ...

– specifically requiring database managers to implement security measures to guard against unauthorized access to customer information. In January 2009, Shannon responded to the economic crisis by introducing a bill with the intention of increasing government accountability, improving budget oversight, and reducing wasteful bureaucratic spending. Shannon's House Resolution was intended to repair the state's budget shortfalls, strongly recommending that the House of Delegates implement cost-saving measures which he deemed necessary.

2009 Virginia Attorney General Election

Shannon ran as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

for

Virginia Attorney General The attorney general of Virginia is an elected constitutional position that holds an executive office in the government of Virginia. Attorneys general are elected for a four-year term in the year following a presidential election. There are no ter ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

. His platform included increased restrictions on

sex offenders A sex offender (sexual offender, sex abuser, or sexual abuser) is a person who has committed a sex crime. What constitutes a sex crime differs by culture and legal jurisdiction. The majority of convicted sex offenders have convictions for crime ...

use of Social Networking services and several measures to deter drunk driving, and attempting to curb gang recruitment. He defeated attorney

John P. Fishwick, Jr. John Palmer Fishwick Jr. (born 1957) is an attorney in Roanoke, Virginia who served as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia. Born in Roanoke, Virginia, John is a graduate of Harvard College. He graduated in 1979. Fishwick furthered ...

in the Democratic primary. In the general election, his candidacy was endorsed by ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' and ''

The Virginian-Pilot ''The Virginian-Pilot'' is the daily newspaper for Norfolk, Virginia. Commonly known as ''The Pilot'', it is Virginia's largest daily. It serves the five cities of South Hampton Roads as well as several smaller towns across southeast Virginia ...

''. He was defeated by Republican candidate Ken Cuccinelli on November 3, 2009.

Electoral history

References

External links