‘Prosecutor’ Ramin Fatehi: The Chesa Boudin of Chesapeake Bay | The American Spectator

The eyes of the world are focused atop Virginia’s ballot. Tuesday evening could feature photo finishes in three high-profile off-year elections.

In the gubernatorial race, will common-sense-conservative incumbent Republican Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears defeat the illusory “moderate,” former congresswoman Abigail D. Spanberger, who runs from her far-Left U.S. House vote record? (Lifetime CPAC rating: 8.6 percent conservative; 2022 score: 3 percent)

For Lieutenant Governor, will Republican activist and radio host John J. Reid, II beat Democrat State Senator Ghazala F. Hashmi? (Lifetime CPAC rating: 13.5 percent; 2023: 6 percent)

And will a victory by sitting Republican Attorney General Jason S. Miyares prove that Democrat former State Delegate Jerrauld “Jay” C. Jones machine-gunned his own career in 2022 when he texted his wish for “two bullets to the head” of Republican Todd Gilbert, Virginia’s then-House speaker?

Jones discussed with a colleague Gilbert and his wife Jennifer’s “little fascists,” specifically their two young children. Jones hoped that they would die in their mother’s arms. Regarding his GOP colleagues, Jones texted: “I will go to their funerals to piss on their graves.” In 2022, Jones was convicted of driving 116 MPH in a 70 MPH stretch of Interstate 64. Jones was fined $1,500 and sentenced to 1,000 hours of community service. He spent 500 hours at his own PAC, apparently without court approval. (Jones’ lifetime CPAC rating: 14.5 percent; 2021: 11 percent)

While these campaigns dominate the headlines, an intriguing name appears down-ballot in one coastal community.

Ramin Fatehi never met a criminal he didn’t want to hug.

Too bad he is running for re-election as Commonwealth Attorney in Norfolk, Virginia.

Fatehi is a Saturday Night Live-quality caricature of the doe-eyed liberals’ “root causes” argument. His approach to law enforcement recalls “Gee, Officer Krupky.” In this number, from 1957’s West Side Story, a group of New York City gang members blame everyone but themselves for their being derelicts. The Jets hooligans sing:

Gee, Officer Krupke, we’re very upset:
We never had the love that every child oughta get
We ain’t no delinquents
We’re misunderstood
Deep down inside us there is good!

One of them named Action adds:

My father is a bastard
My ma’s an S.O.B.
My grandpa’s always plastered
My grandma pushes tea
My sister wears a mustache
My brother wears a dress
Goodness gracious, that’s why I’m a mess!

Action continues:

Hey, I’m depraved on account I’m deprived. 

A New Wave band called Oingo Boingo similarly mocked this mentality in its 1981 song “Only a Lad.”

Only a lad

He really couldn’t help it
Only a lad
He didn’t want to do it
Only a lad
He’s underprivileged and abused
Perhaps a little bit confused

It’s not his fault that he can’t behave
Society’s made him go astray
Perhaps if we’re nice he’ll go away
Perhaps he’ll go away
He’ll go away

These are just fun, harmless songs — from 44 and 68 years ago.

Alas, Fatehi doesn’t see this attitude as satire or just zany lyrics. Terminal victimology is his bedrock principle, if not his religion. Only a true believer in this twisted civic creed could express these words without laughing:

The old-fashioned view about public safety was not taking into account externalities. It was focused on the idea of crime as an evil unto itself. Where I part ways is in recognizing that crime is a symptom. It’s a symptom of structural racism, of systematic community disinvestment, of redlining, unequal school policy, the lack of jobs, lack of transportation, a lack of opportunities, intergenerational barriers to wealth building, the disinvestment in the treatment of the mentally ill — all of these things are really what produced the symptoms, but then we as prosecutors are charged with essentially trying to deal with it, and then are blamed also when they perhaps increase or decrease.

One need not dig for proof of Fatehi’s peaceful, easy feeling toward criminals. It clogs his websites.

Just below his official photo, the government site identifies the Commonwealth Attorney as “Ramin Fatehi (he/him).” A March 2022 statement of “Philosophy, Policy, and Procedures” explains: “The Office works to combat explicit and implicit bias, mass incarceration, the school-to-prison pipeline, and the criminalization of poverty, homelessness, mental illness, and substance-use disorder.”

Furthermore, “Requiring accused people to post cash bail criminalized [sic] poverty and harms public safety by increasing financial stress on accused people and their families.” Thus, “the Office will continue its longstanding policy not to seek cash bail (secured bond) in any case.”

Fatehi’s campaign website is even more strident. “Ramin is a proud Democrat, a progressive prosecutor, and Norfolk’s champion for criminal justice reform,” it states (emphases in the original). Fatehi’s office “has led the charge” to “make the justice system honor the principle that Black Lives Matter.”

Fatehi’s “Statement of Principles” checks off multiple Woke boxes:

• Poverty is not a crime, and we should not criminalize poverty.
• The legacy of systemic racism — from redlining to segregation to community disinvestment — continues to harm people and undermine public safety.
• Children should be treated as children, and the School-to-Prison Pipeline should be shut down.
• The government has an obligation to address poverty, mental illness, substance abuse, homelessness, and other root causes of crime that contribute to people entering the criminal justice system.
• Jail or prison should be a last resort, when public safety demands it or when there are no less-restrictive alternatives.
• The death penalty should be abolished.

Fatehi’s website also notes that “Ramin believes in the 21 Principles for the 21st Century Prosecutor.” This manifesto includes more gems than the Louvre — before it was robbed. Consider these sapphires:

• “Promote Restorative Justice…. In a group setting, individuals facing charges talk to the people they hurt, sharing stories and working toward accountability, repair, and rehabilitation. Restorative practices can be part of the criminal court process or a substitute for it.”
• “Hire a diverse staff across all levels of seniority and report on staff diversity. In mid to large offices, hire a director of diversity and inclusion.”
• “Engage the community and the office in a reflective conversation about the role of prosecutors in racial inequity. Implicit bias training should be part of this process.”
• “Stop using scientifically invalid evidence. Examples include: comparison of bullet leads, fire and bloodstain patterns, bite marks, shoe prints, and hair matching.”
• “Employ the Language of Respect.” Rather than “felon,” use “person who committed a crime.” Apparently “convict” is too vicious. The “21st Century” term is “individual who was incarcerated.” Why use one word when four will suffice?

This focus on “root causes” might seem almost touchingly dated — like a macrame flower-pot holder, down in the basement, or perhaps Granny’s dusty doilies up in the attic. But Fatehi’s weep-for-the-criminals mentality is much worse than a pile of moldy ideas. These beliefs have real-world consequences.

Because, as Fatehi claims, “Mandatory minimum sentences present a significant possibility of over-punishment,” he requires prosecutors to “seek the approval of their [sic] Deputy” before seeking any sentence beyond 30 days.

Fatehi went so lightly on shoplifters that Norfolk’s City Council authorized its city attorney to begin prosecuting misdemeanor shoplifting violations.

All of this seems eerily familiar because it is. “Fatehi’s main source of campaign income came from three liberal super PACs largely funded by billionaire George Soros,” The Virginian-Pilot reported. The latest data show that Fatehi scored $393,748 from Justice and Public Safety PAC and 273,488 from Democracy PAC, both of which Soros finances. Fatehi also collected $30,589 from the Working Families Party National PAC and $24,800 from the Working Families Party, a far-Left, Brooklyn-based political faction.

Ramin Fatehi is part of the same Soros-financed criminal-kissing clique as Manhattan’s Alvin Bragg, Chicago’s Kim Foxx, and Philadelphia’s Larry Krasner. Of course, at some point, voters tire of lawlessness, and sometimes boot these bums from office. Just ask ejected former prosecutors George Gascon of Los Angeles and even (literal son of terrorists) Chesa Boudin of San Francisco.

Ramin Fatehi faces only a potential write-in challenge on Tuesday. However, if he keeps chest-feeding criminals, the Chesa Boudin of the Chesapeake Bay could go the way of his California counterparts.

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​Deroy Murdock is a Manhattan-based Fox News Contributor.