In the first major address of this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference, Virginia attorney general Ken Cuccinelli presented the gathered activists with an unusual charge.

“Conservatives should lead the campaign to changing the culture of corrections in America,” said Cuccinelli. It was a strange line in the sand for the 2013 Republican gubernatorial candidate, who has reputation as a fiery, liberty-minded pol. But in listing his five priorities he would pursue as Virginia’s governor, Cuccinelli ended on this note of compassion.