For over a hundred years critics of the practice of imposing Solitary Confinement on prisoners have railed against it and only during the Obama Presidency did the criticism gain traction. Nonetheless, practioners, proponents, and defenders of its barbaric use have as all reactionaries responded with deflection. whether it's with euphemism or and as with the case with the Virginia Department of Corrections [VADOC], exploiting affliction with NGO i.e. The Vera Institute of Justice
VADOC has been playing a three card monte, a shell game of musical chairs, that old tired sleight of hand, two step shuffle of reactionary deceit while maintaining the practice of Solitary Confinement. Despite press release after press release that it has reformed its use of Solitary Confinement at it's primary prison, Red Onion State Prison [ROSP] and other illegitimate claims concerning prisoner complaints and grievances, that purport to indicate operational ethics and management efficiency, the practice of Solitary Confinement and it's use at ROSP is maximum.
After securing recognition from the U.S. Department of Justice, the Council of State Governments, Southern Legislative Conference and others, all of whom have their relative self interest, that VADOC's euphemistic scheme touting Solitary Confinement reform has dramatically reduced it's use at ROSP. VADOC has recently secured alliance with the Vera Institute of Justice to anoint it's "Solitary Confinement Reform" claims. It is easy to understand the eagerness of Vera Institute, considering it is receiving $2.2 million from the U.S. Department of Justice, to attest in that idealistic usual congratulatory manner that VADOC is progressive. While turning a blind eye to the reality ongoing at ROSP Solitary Confinement.
What Solitary Confinement reform looks like are: the headlines coming out of California with it's Ashker v. California settlement.
The almost daily news out of Pennsylvania and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3d circuit of the release from Solitary Confinement of prisoners confined for 29, 22,37 years to list a few.
Virginia on the other hand, despite having it's share of prisoners in Solitary Confinement for 21 years and counting is conspicuously absent from the roll call of Solitary Confinement reformers and no amount of NGO affiliations and it's dupe of the Vera Institute can deflect and distort the fact that Solitary confinement reform is all talk in Virginia.
By William Thorpe and I've been in Solitary Confinement in VADOC since 1996 and at ROSP since 1998
3 comments :
It's a blatant lie and can be proven! It's a blatant lie told by State Legislators Delegate Patrick Hope and Adam P. Ebbin and refuted by an Article . paper written by Kelvin Khaysi whom was shipped to a Prison in Rhode Island from Red Onion immediately after he wrote the article and also disproved the success of the so-called Step Down program at Red Onion. The statistical data was also disproved! Red Onion and any officials associated with the story is telling a blatant lie!
I recently had a dispute with an employee at ROSP. This employee told me the guys (prisoners) all lie about the conditions at ROSP. Then, she went on a verbal tyrade against me telling me that I'm an incompetent person who must have no self-esteem to believe this prisoners. With the caliber of employees like this at ROSP, I think it's clear they're not credible and the reports by the prisoners are credible.
Bro your 3/21/17 comments in response to this Vera Institute post is on point. What you overlooked is my post was to educate taxpayers by contrasting what the state and VADOC are saying. We know VADOC's talk about Solitary Confinement Reform is a flim flam sham geared towards getting federal money. But the fact is: The tax paying public at large doesn't know that and that is the work, to always expose the contradictions.
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