Hassan Ahmad fights for criminal justice reform in House of Delegates run

Hassan Ahmad, a long-time Sterling resident in Loudoun County with 15 years of legal experience, is running for the Virginia House of Delegates District 87. His focuses are transportation, criminal justice reform, and education. A portion of the 87th District is in Prince William County.

Name: Hassan Minhaj Ahmad

Party: Democrat

Town: Sterling

Running for: House of Delegates, District 87

Website: hassan4va.com, Facebook, Twitter

Work: Lawyer

Education: Tulane Law School (JD, 2000) University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (BA, 1996)

Community Involvement: Hassan Ahmad is an immigration advocate in speaking and writing. He is a member of the Virginia Asian Advisory Board; Commonwealth Commission on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Board; and Dulles Justice Coalition. He serves as a volunteer lawyer for Muslim Ban South Texas Family Residential Center, advising asylum seekers in Dilley, TX. He also advises asylum seekers at Al Otro Lado, in Tijuana, BC, Mexico. He is a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) aficionado.

Questions and Answers

PL: What are the top three major issues facing the district you wish to represent? 

Ahmad: Transportation (Smart Growth), Criminal Justice Reform, Education

PL: What concrete solutions do you propose to address these issues?

Ahmad: Transportation requires holistic solutions. Invest in affordable housing by incentivizing developers to build them. Encourage telecommuting, staggered work hours, and smart traffic light control. Develop “high traffic driver’s ed” curricula, increasing the burden on developers to not leave infrastructure half-built.

Criminal justice reform will require ending debtor’s prisons; decriminalizing and/or legalization (marijuana); mass restoration of voting rights; allowance of certain incarcerated individuals to vote; creating post-conviction relief remedies besides habeus; expanding drug courts; ending ICE cooperation; destroying the 287(g) programs; reducing max misdemeanor sentence to 364 days; and U visa registry to enhance community policing.

For education, diverting resources away from prisons to pay teachers; equalizing funds to disadvantaged areas of the district (Sterling Park, eg.); creation of early childhood development initiatives; creation of immersion education (foreign language, tech – partner with giant corporations to help defray cost); mass awareness campaign of depression/PTSD/mental illness in our schools; incentives to reduce screen time for students, including continued dialogue with social media platforms. (Instagram and Snapchat in particular.)

PL: From your perspective, what is the job description of the office you’re seeking?

Ahmad: The successful candidate will be driven by a moral imperative to enhance happiness, contentment, and prosperity, and will have an unbroken track record of doing the same. The successful candidate will be invested in the district in which office is sought, evinced by long-standing family, residential, and/or business ties to said district. The successful candidate shall bring their own expertise, but have a demonstrated track record of seeking out expertise in other fields.

PL: What expertise will you bring to the office?

Ahmad: 15 years of legal experience in immigration, criminal defense, and civil rights. Fluency and/or proficiency in 8 languages, enabling contact with a wider swath of people, natively. Business experience from having built a law firm from the ground up.

PL: Do you feel that the average citizen is well-informed and understands the workings of local government?

Ahmad: No. I use my time on the doors with voters to explain local government and how it affects their lives more directly and more forcefully than federal laws. As an elected official, holding town halls and leveraging social media. Employing a comms team. Continued door-knocking.

PL: Have you ever made any mistakes in your public life? How have they affected you?

Ahmad: I have only been a candidate since last October and thus far have been gaffe-free. However, I have certainly made mistakes as a lawyer. I find that is an opportune time to create moral fiber, as these experiences are at once humbling, instructive, and empowering. Like anyone, I go though a brief period of wanting to curl up in a ball, but afterward I realize I can make myself a better and more effective lawyer or advocate. Thus far, however, I have not been tested with anything very serious.

PL: Our readers want leaders in local government. Why should they vote for you?

Ahmad: I’m from this community, having lived here for 12 years with my wife and (now) 3 children. I bring 15 years of legal experience representing the voteless and voiceless of this district, listening to their stories and fighting to free them from a system designed as a vortex. I am a political outsider, beholden to no one, and haven’t become jaded despite practicing in a very depressing field. I’ve fought for 15 years right here. Now I’m taking that fight to Richmond.

*Submitted photo