Originally published in the Summer/Fall 2025 edition of the Virginia Defender, issue 77, printed December 11. Reproduced here for accessibility and archival purposes. To find other stories in the Summer/Fall 2025 issue or to download the full PDF, see this post. For other issues dating back to 2012, see the Full Issues page.

Editor’s note: After at least six men severely burned themselves at Red Onion State Prison in a desperate attempt to get transferred out of that notorious hellhole, the Virginia Department of Corrections did two things: They punished the men who self-immolated, and they instituted some major changes in the prison system.

To try and better understand these changes, the Defender spoke with Margaret Breslau, a co-founder of the Virginia Prison Justice Network and chair of the Coalition for Justice, which produces a monthly newsletter for the VAPJN that is sent to thousands of prisoners, reaching virtually every Virginia facility. Margaret is probably in touch with more prisoners than any other single person in Virginia. Like the Defenders, all her work in support of prisoners is voluntary.

This is our interview with Margaret Brealau.

D: What’s happening with these “model prisons” we’re hearing so much about? And the changes in the security level designations for many prisons?

MB: They’re expanding the network of model prisons, or units, and I’ve been told they are expanding the model to include a women’s prison.

And they had to move a lot of people around because to be assigned to a model prison they had to have four years infraction-free, so the decision was made about changing the security level designations.

There’s a model unit in Greensville. I write to people there and they say positive things about it. I recently visited a model prison in Dillwyn, to go to a talent show. That’s not a good time to have a big discussion, but people said they are served actual meat. They have chicken. They have real mattresses. There’s more freedom to move around. They can self-organize events. It’s working with staff, but they have some control over the kinds of things they want to see happen there.

I took a peek in the library. They actually have a pretty good library there.

Things aren’t perfect, but people I talk with say they feel safe there, and that’s a big thing.

Meanwhile, other prisoners feel like their prisons are seen as dumping grounds.

With the recent tragic murder of a staff member at River North, the response from the DOC is to punish. Teargas. Lockdown. There’s no effort to de-escalate violence. These are situations where residents feel unsafe, they feel unheard, can’t get validation for their issues.

They talk about mental health. [VA- DOC Director Chadwick] Dotson recently talked about the mental health of staff members, but not about residents. I don’t hear anyone talking about that.

Both staff and residents are over- stressed. They both have a lot of anxiety and fear, but there’s not a way to move forward to make sure everyone is safe.

I really haven’t heard about anyone saying anything about the mental health of people at River North. And the lock- downs are just a form of solitary confinement.

The legislature has a lot on their plates, along with a lack of resources, but it will take policy changes, legislative changes. Someone has to ask how often you can put people on lockdown, when you can use rubber bullets. The officials just say these are temporary measures. We need legislative changes, and people deserve to know what is going on here.

D: What about parole? Very few people are getting it. Do you think there will be changes with the new governor?

MB: On parole, Morrison, a Democrat, and Doggs, a Republican, they talked about parole and expanding eligibility and said it would take some time. This was reported in June. And they say they need a study bill, because it’s a huge thing to change parole eligibility.

Changing the board usually happens with new governors, but that’s not enough. We need legislative change as well.

D: There have been a lot of deaths in the prisons, a lot of suicides.

MB: The DOC only reports what they are required to report.

There are “cooldown rooms” – everyone hates it because it’s just another form of punishment. It isolates you.

The CWA [Communications Workers of America] represents 1,000 corrections officers in Virginia. They talk about the need for more staffing and mental health care, with non-COs taking on CO roles, like a counselor filling in for someone.

And there’s the problem of pushing for people to be snitches. Of course, that’s very dangerous.

People are afraid of being hurt by pepper spray, dogs, rubber bullets. The DOC said rubber bullets are prohibited at juvenile facilities, but not the adult ones.

When there was the incident at Wallens Ridge [guards were allegedly attacked by gang members], they moved all the Hispanics to Red Onion, even some who were not at Wallens Ridge. The ACLU asked about it and the DOC said they were all gang members. Some people told me they had been in a gang when they were younger and on the street, but hadn’t been in a gang for a long time.

D: How much do you think the staff shortages play into all of this?

MB: There clearly are staff shortages. Not just in Virginia, but in every prison system and in the federal prisons.

The best way to address the staff shortage is to reduce the number of prisoners. After something like what happened at River North, you’re not going to get people to sign up.

You have to start looking at expanding geriatric parole. Geriatric prisoners are the least likely to recidivate, and they’re the most costly to keep in prison.

And enhancing Earned Sentence Credit [credit for good behavior that reduces a sentence length] to include the time someone spent in a local jail. HB-45 passed in 2024, but then Youngkin vetoed it.

If you can depopulate prisons, the staff won’t be stretched so thin, and we should be seriously looking at decarceration and depopulation efforts.