A.E. Dick Howard, a constitutional law expert at the University of Virginia, said there would have to be a way to keep essential functions of government operating. He noted that the constitution vests the chief executive with certain powers that “at least raise the question of whether the governor has some inherent power to save the commonwealth from destruction. … The constitution is not a suicide pact. No matter what the language of the constitution, it simply does not make sense to read it as saying the governor’s hands are tied, rendering him helpless based on a clear da...
