IF THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA WANTS TO EXERCISE ITS CRIMINAL JUSTICE RIGHT, THEN WHOSE RESPONSIBILITY IS IT TO PROVIDE A RELEASED PRISONER WITH FUNCTIONAL NECESSITIES? By William Thorpe

Recently Governor Glenn Youngkin signed EXECUTIVE ORDER NUMBER 36 and I responded with its a gambit. Look people there are a lot of misconceptions and misapprehension about criminal justice because there hasn't been a serious interrogation of what it means. So what has happened is The Virginia Prison scheme and its base Justice Infrastructure has simply been allowed to operate without any scrutiny or rather made to comprehensively defend and explain the "why's" and "what" of its actions. Society has always struggled with how to respond to those it accuses of violating its criminal codes because any close examination and, again interrogation is like that proverbial tugging on a loose sleeve thread resulting in the entire sleeve falling off. In other words any honest examination of the justice infrastructure will present society with realities of itself that it doesn't want to know about itself and confront. As presently structured Virginia Code 53.1 has general parameters governing Virginia's prison scheme including parole, but what it doesn't affirmatively deal with is The Commonwealth's responsibilities and obligations to the released prisoner (which is the most important part of the entire imprisonment scheme) yet Virginia's Government hasn't acted as such, yet Youngkin's EXECUTIVE ORDER NUMBER 36 is confession that the question of the released prisoner from Virginia prisons is a responsibility of Virginia's Government, because first of all the authority to issue executive orders is a governmental function from powers the people of Virginia have seen fit to give the Governor or Executive of Virginia. Secondly, public safety which the justice infrastructure and the prison system are components is a primary function and responsibility of the Governor or Executive who currently is Glenn Youngkin. Thirdly and most important, there are reasons why certain functions and services are prohibitively reserved for Government and Public Safety and the Justice Infrastructure are some. Now historically Virginia hasn't recognized and accepted that it has a primary responsibility and obligation to provide the released prisoner with functional necessities. This work isn't focusing on the reasons but what I stress is this, all governments are of the people and eliciting function and service depends on and demands a literacy of this fact, unless access is denied by laws, for example during "jim crow", Black People were denied access and participation in Virginia's governance by laws, that relatively mirror the Virginia prisoner circumstance. So the fact Governor Youngkin wants to play footsie with the Commonwealth's responsibility to the released prisoner with his EXECUTIVE ORDER NUMBER 36 as gambits to nonprofits, exploiting the charity gimmick only speaks to, as a people our illiteracy and ignorance or insidiousness by playing along as if the condition and circumstance of the released Virginia prisoner is an after thought that is shunted to the off track of suppositions and speculations of unaccountable and unelected Virginians. Look people Virginia's government is incapable for a number of reasons of thoroughly examining and comprehensively interrogating its justice infrastructure and prison system, as such we need another mechanism for that, what I, as a prisoner under its jurisdiction supports is a peoples assembly made up of people, selected from all regions of the State, including most importantly victims of crime and families of prisoners.

By William Thorpe

I'm 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