THE REAL LESSON AND TAKE AWAY FROM THE NOVEMBER 3, 2026 VOTE RESTORING VOTING RIGHTS FOR THE EX IMPRISONED VIRGINIAN By William Thorpe

I BEGIN: The November 3, 2026 Passage of Proposal #3, Amendment Restoring Voting Rights to Ex Imprisoned Virginians, to the Constitution of Virginia by 56.5% of the Virginia electorate is a complete and total repudiation and rejection of Virginia Democrats Consultancy class advice of streeing clear of Virginia Prison and Imprisonment scheme issues to Virginia Democratic Politicians. It reveals by underscoring what we have always known and understood that the Political Consultancy class advising Democratic Politicians have historically made the conscious decision that there aren't political rewards or upside in reforming the Justice Infrastructure, the Imprisonment Scheme and holding the Prison Official accountable for violations that are Legion. In other words, despite the concerns of the Virginia Democrat and the impact of Virginia's imprisonment scheme on the demographics of the Voter coalition, the Democratic Consultancy class have expressed a craven unwillingness to confront what the absence of governance of the accountability-function on prison issues have wrought on the Virginia body politic. I note these cases: HOWELL v. McAULIFFE 292 VA.320, SCOTT v. McDOUGLE 930 S.E. 2d 332, HAWKINS v. YOUNGKIN 149 F. 4th 433, KING v. O'BANNON 817 F. SUPP. 3d 354.

By William Thorpe

William Thorpe Virginia exiled me to the Texas prison system. I'm solitary confined at the Wainwright Unit and if you feel any kinda way about this work contact me by Securus email using the Texas prison number #2261982.

43%+ OF VIRGINIA REPUBLICANS VOTED ON NOVEMBER 3, 2026 TO CONTINUE DEHUMANIZING EX IMPRISONED VIRGINIANS BY DEPRIVING AND DENYING THEIR VOTING RIGHTS By William Thorpe

Pictures are taken from the internet and are used for illustrative purposes only

However 56.5% Virginia Democrats voted to restore the voting rights. I want to focus on the fraudulent Intellectual-liberalism Thought of Republicans which Virginia Republicans shamelessly revealed by voting to continue dehumanizing the fellow Virginia socio-person. Before I continue, I want to underscore the Intellectual-liberalism of Republicans, with this: The 11/8/26 CBS 60 MINUTES NEWS Program aired an interview with Donald Trump in the position of President of The United States and he was asked a question, which I'll paraphrase both question and response. Trump was asked if he had to express forgiveness of his political enemies to gain entrance to "heaven" i.e James Comey, Nancy Pelosi, would and could he bring himself to forgive. Trump responded with practically No, that he wouldn't be able to forgive. Why this response is emblematic and revelatory of the quintessential truth of the American Republican, is it encapsulates along with the example of the Virginia Republican voting against the restoration of the voting rights of the ex imprisoned, the A-Z of their fraudulent Intellectual-liberalism Thought. Why this is problematic, is the Intellectual-liberalism Thought of Republicans and for purpose of this work, the Virginia Republican inveighs sharply and sanctimoniously in all aspects and facets of the Social-Contract, including the work of reforming Virginia's imprisonment scheme and holding accountable the professional behavior of the Virginia prison official. So let's take Trump and his (and I have to say) facetious response to what quite frankly was a for granted and nonsensical question of "forgiveness", which spoke more to the cunning of the interviewer and the deviousness of the question designed to lay bare and naked the feigned religiosity and hypocrisy of White-Evangelicals and their lemming like support for Trump. Because, "Forgiveness" as a basic, central, primary and fundamental tenet of the Christianity one of Trump's Executive Orders purports to defend, within the Christian context, isn't subjective, accordingly the question and response exposed the nature of Trump's religiosity, thereby presenting and positing the exploitation of support for Trump by White-Evangelicals, as rampart in the opportunity of their dictatorship of intent of what we all recognize as an indefensible crass opportunity for the idealistic futility of supremacy. It's within this fraudulent Intellectual-liberalism Thought, that we encounter the Virginia Republican hard at work sabotaging and undermining every single aspect of the Constituted Aspirations of the People of Virginia, which needless I add, Prison reform and directing the accountability-function of governance at is a primary expectation. Only the spurious and dubious will claim that the objective of a Justice Machinery, is absolute. The fact appellate review exist, qualifies such a claim. In other words, let's take the extreme form of a Justice Objective, which is Capital Punishment. So posthumous exoneration exist despite and notwithstanding the fact the organic human has been killed, murdered, executed by state organized violence. The unyielding and unflinching terms of the process are eternal witnesses indicting. So, when dehumanization is pursued as political spoil, in the idealistic acquisition of Supremacy, Power, which depriving and denying the franchise or the right to vote to the socio-person, speaks to. What emerges is antithetical to the very definition of a socio-person. Showing that the Thought Formulation is inherent corruption in its Intellectual-liberalism form and cannot be taken serious. 

By William Thorpe

William Thorpe Virginia exiled me to the Texas prison system. I'm solitary confined at the Wainwright Unit and if you feel any kinda way about this work contact me by Securus email using the Texas prison number #2261982.

STATUS UPDATE AND HEALTH OF THE ECOSYSYEM OF VIRGINIA'S PRISON REFORM ACTIVITY

 

Overall Health: 6.5/10

Direction: Improving

Momentum: Moderate to Strong

Fragility: High

Virginia's prison reform movement is very much alive, arguably more influential than it was during the later Youngkin years, but it remains structurally fragile because many of its gains are administrative rather than permanently embedded in law.

What Looks Healthy

1. Reform Advocates Have More Access to Government Than They Did Recently

Governor Abigail Spanberger created the Governor's Community Partnership Council on Corrections, bringing together advocates, formerly incarcerated people, families, faith groups, public safety officials, and DOC leadership for ongoing policy input. 

For longtime Virginia activists, this is significant.

Groups that spent years protesting outside facilities like Red Onion and Wallens Ridge are now obtaining direct administrative access. That does not guarantee reform, but it means the movement has a seat at the table rather than shouting through the window.

2. Prison Conditions Became a Mainstream Policy Issue

The administration publicly acknowledged longstanding problems involving:

• staffing shortages
• facility lockdowns
• overdose deaths
• use-of-force practices
• transparency concerns

The fact that state leadership is publicly discussing these topics represents a major shift from earlier eras when DOC criticisms were more easily dismissed.

3. Measurable Operational Improvements

The administration reported:

• 56% reduction in serious inmate-on-staff assaults
• 47% reduction in confirmed overdoses
• 27% reduction in lockdowns
• 39% reduction in use-of-force incidents

Those numbers come from the Governor's office and DOC, so advocates will naturally want independent verification, but they indicate the administration is attempting to govern through performance metrics rather than pure rhetoric.

4. Legislative Activity Is Ongoing

Reform legislation continues moving through Richmond.

Examples include:

• expanded earned sentence credit calculations for incarcerated people awaiting trial or conviction processing (HB 361) [lis.virginia.gov], [legiscan.com]
• legal-access protections for people in local and regional jails (HB 126) [vpap.org]
• proposed expansion of educational, employment, literacy, and reentry programming inside prisons (HB 1280) [lis.virginia.gov]

That tells me prison reform remains a functioning legislative issue rather than a dormant one.

---

What Remains Unhealthy

1. Red Onion Still Casts a Long Shadow

The movement continues to be driven partly by reports coming out of Red Onion and other supermax facilities.

Self-immolation protests, allegations of retaliation, racism concerns, and ongoing litigation continue to shape public discussion.

Whenever a state's flagship prison reform conversation is still anchored to reports from its most controversial facility, that is a sign the underlying legitimacy crisis has not fully been resolved.

2. Independent Oversight Remains Weak

If you ask veteran organizers what major issue remains unresolved, many will answer:

independent oversight.

This theme appears repeatedly in activism surrounding the Virginia Prison Justice Network and the People's Tribunal process. Reform advocates continue arguing that DOC investigations are not enough and that stronger external review mechanisms are needed.

3. Staffing Problems Have Not Disappeared

DOC leadership has acknowledged significant vacancy concerns despite improvements. Staffing shortages affect:

• recreation
• educational programming
• mental health services
• medical response
• lockdown frequency

Many prison-condition complaints ultimately trace back to personnel shortages.

4. Reform Is Still Personality-Dependent

This is the largest strategic weakness.

Much of today's momentum depends upon:

• current executive leadership
• current DOC leadership
• current political climate

The movement has gained administrative allies, but administrative allies can be replaced.

The question activists should always ask is:

"What reforms survive the next governor?"

---

Health of the Advocacy Ecosystem

Strongest Organizations / Networks

The most durable organizing infrastructure appears to remain centered around:

• Virginia Prison Justice Network (VAPJN)
• Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality
• Coalition partners focused on solitary confinement, parole restoration, sentencing reform, and prisoner-family advocacy.

These groups have survived multiple administrations and continue publishing newsletters, organizing rallies, holding tribunals, documenting prisoner testimony, and participating in current policy discussions.

From an organizer's perspective, that institutional persistence matters more than any single bill.

---

Outlook

Next 2 Years

I would watch five indicators:

1. Independent oversight proposals.
2. Red Onion litigation outcomes.
3. Earned-sentence-credit implementation.
4. Expansion of reentry and education programs.
5. Whether the new Corrections Council becomes a permanent institution or a temporary political project.

Bottom Line

If we were writing a movement health report, we'd classify Virginia's prison-reform ecosystem as:

"Rebuilding and gaining influence, but not yet transformed."

The reform side has more access, more public visibility, and more policy traction than it had a few years ago. Yet most core activist demands, especially independent oversight, parole expansion, meaningful accountability for abuse allegations, and structural changes at high-security facilities, remain unfinished business.

For someone involved in advocacy work like VAPAC, we'd describe the current moment as an opportunity window rather than a victory lap. The door is open wider than it has been, but the foundation under those gains is not yet permanent.

By vapac

WE APPLAUD THE PEOPLE OF VIRGINIA WHO REMINDED US OF WHAT OPEN POLITICAL ACTION AND SPEECH LOOKS LIKE BY VOTING FOR THE RESTORATION OF VOTING RIGHTS FOR THE EX IMPRISONED VIRGINIAN ON NOVEMBER 3, 2026 By William Thorpe

Pictures are taken from the internet and are used for illustrative purposes only

First of all besides applauding the People of Virginia for approving Proposal # 3, a Constitutional Amendment to the Virginia Constitution, that automatically restores all voting rights and privileges to the ex imprisoned Virginian. I want to also bring attention to and focus on the fact that the People of Virginia resoundingly rejected the Virginia Republican Party's deployment of it's typical gambit of misdirecting the People's frustration and ire by scapegoating prison and criminal justice issues, with its recent farcical and maliciously disingenuous criticism of the Virginia Parole Board's fulfillment of its legal obligations and responsibilities, by paroling eligible Virginia Prisoners, with their passage of Proposal #3, Amendment restoring the voting rights of the released Virginia prisoner. This voter approval of the restoration of the franchise to the ex imprisoned Virginian, isn't just a big deal, but a great deal, for a lot of reasons along with dispensing and disabusing an entire universe of misconceptions, along with providing the opportunity for real questions about Virginia's Social Contract, not only to be asked but confront honest answers. Yes anytime the vote is expanded, it must be celebrated because we are another step down the road of that perfection of the unity of the People. Which essentially means we are actually annihilating those historical methods and means exploited by opportunist as antagonisms, but in fact are no more than insight providing contradictions, towards the creation of, again the unity of the People. I BEGIN: 43%+ of Virginia voters said No, to restoring the voting rights of the released ex imprisoned Virginian. The issue isn't that its their prerogative to say No, but if it is understood that the deprivation and denial of the right to vote, is simply an act of dehumanization and the relegation to something less, than a socio-person regardless of rationale, logic and it's dictatorship of purpose and this understanding is subsequently sabotaging the very idea the franchise and vote is intended to construct, support, endorse and realize. Then the only conclusion the act of supporting dehumanization speaks to and reveals is schizophrenia at worst and at least, cognitive-dissonance. We see this as that seemingly intractable deviant set of Social Contract relations, permitting and enabling the existence of the various exploitive enterprises, from the Commonwealth's organized-violence of its own Justice Infrastructure to the various snake oil Think Tanks selling the shameless doubling down on suppositions and hypocrisies, that once again the very purpose of The Vote and voting, which they claim its defense, emerged as antithesis. What the 56.5% of Virginians who voted for the restoration of the vote to the released ex imprisoned Virginian, reminds us is this, that the majority of Virginians are enlightened and maturely capable of grasping that the aspirations of the Social Contract isn't mechanistically dictatorial but a means for, if our claim that human life is sacrosanct and isn't mere exploitive opportunity for that always lurking nemesis as ulterior, Society's speech of accountability as Justice, being redemptive, resurrectionist and anti-dehumanization. What we also learned is 82% of Virginia Democrats voted Yes for the restoration of the vote, while 36% of Virginia Republicans voted No to continue the dehumanization. Urban Virginia voted Yes, Rural said No.

Bry William Thorpe

William Thorpe Virginia exiled me to the Texas prison system. I'm solitary confined at the Wainwright Unit and if you feel any kinda way about this work contact me by Securus email using the Texas prison number #2261982.

2026 ADDITION OF VIRGINIA DAY ON SOLITARY CONFINEMENT

ON SUNDAY NOVEMBER 8TH, 2026 THE SECOND SUNDAY IN NOVEMBER WHICH IS VIRGINIA DAY ON SOLITARY CONFINEMENT WE STAND WITH IMPRISONED VIRGINIAN.  as an annual awareness and advocacy day focused on opposition to solitary confinement in Virginia prisons. 

Key points:

• VAPAC designated the second Sunday in November as Virginia Day on Solitary Confinement Awareness Day. 
• The purpose is to encourage public discussion about the psychological and human-rights impacts of long-term isolation in prison. 
• Organizers encourage participation through social media posts, discussions, signs, videos, radio call-ins, and other forms of public advocacy. Suggested hashtags include #VaDayOnSolitaryConfinement and #NovemberVASecondSunday. 
• The observance is tied to ongoing debates over Virginia's use of what the Department of Corrections calls "restorative housing," a term critics argue can still amount to solitary confinement. Virginia enacted restrictions in 2023 requiring, among other things, at least four hours per day out of cell and periodic reviews, though advocates criticized the law for not including a hard 15-day limit.
• The issue remains active in Virginia. In 2026, a federal judge allowed a class-action lawsuit challenging long-term solitary confinement practices at Red Onion State Prison to proceed to trial. [acluva.org] 

So on this 2026 edition of solidarity with the imprisoned Virginian, we call on Family, Ally, and Friends, and the people of Virginia to speak out and reject the practice of solitary confinement regardless of name

VAPAC