There’s a quote at the bottom of this page by the famous Russian novelist Dostoevski: “The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons.” More people should visit Virginia’s prisons and jails.
The Coalition for Justice of Blacksburg, a co-founder of the Virginia Prison Justice Network, is working with the Virginia Tech Center for Humanities to create an online journal of art, writing, spoken word and reflections on prison life.
Despite threatening weather forecasts, cold temperatures and the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, nearly 90 people still turned out Jan. 22 for the 5th Annual Virginia Prison Justice Rally.
This Saturday, January 16, nearly 50 cars took to the streets in a “Not One More Death!” caravan that drove through downtown Richmond to demand protection for the state’s prisoners from the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the months of national anti-racist protests triggered by the brutal police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, around 300 protesters were arrested in Richmond. Some are facing serious felony charges.
Many individuals and organizations have been concerned about how the city jail has been handling the threat of COVID-19. Recently there have been some major improvements in the number of active cases in the jail, but little has been done to address the issue of trust. The following is an open letter to Sheriff Irving.
by Phil Wilayto RICHMOND, VA, Sept. 8 — “Some terrible mistake was made along the way.” That was how a federal judge described the recent massive COVID-19 outbreak at a private immigrant […]
The Virginia Defender 