Unjust Policing and Fighting it From The Inside By "Think Podcast"

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

Edwin Raymond, a 15-year NYPD veteran and prominent criminal justice reform advocate, joins Krys Boyd to discuss systemic issues within policing that lead to unequal enforcement. He shares his insights on how to reform these practices and details his experiences in his book, "An Inconvenient Cop: My Fight to Change Policing in America."

"Think Podcast"

WE BLAME VIRGINIA GOVERNOR GLENN YOUNGKIN, WE INDICT HIM By William Thorpe

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

Let me first begin with here we go again, The Virginia Department Of Corrections at its Red Onion State Prison Koncentration Kamp is currently in the News for another episode of heinous events under the administration and governance of Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, specifically a number of prisoners held in oppressive and intolerable solitary confinement are setting themselves on fire, a la the self-immolation of a Buddhist monk at the evils of United States activities during the Vietnam war. Others have spoken on these current prisoner self-immolation events at Red Onion State Prison Koncentration Kamp, within the greater context of the depravity of its administration and governance, what I want to however do is expand on #exposethebarbarity. So let me begin with Virginia law at, Virginia Code Section 8.01-2 (6) states: Person under a disability shall include (a) a person convicted of a felony during the period he is confined. Which in plain speak, is The Commonwealth of Virginia as collective of the will of its people exercising their will by imprisoning its members presumes certain obligations. Now what we again encounter with this is, as the typical proclivities of law is the disability of the Virginia prisoner is adjudicative. What I mean is this those prisoners held in solitary confinement at Red Onion State Prison Koncentration Kamp according to the obligations and responsibilities of The People of The Commonwealth of Virginia shouldn't be subjected to a self-immolation inducing, savagery and barbarity, because the Virginia prisoner during the period of confinement and imprisonment is a person with a disability so what privilege of authority permits those with responsibility to compel the imprisoned to set themselves on fire, which is what Governor Glenn Youngkin as Chief Executive of Virginia is presiding over and what I'm saying isn't about the assumed legalese of "respondeat superior". Now let's bring on this other aspect, in 2023 Governor Glenn Youngkin vetoed parts of a law that was intended to rein in check the above the law deviance of the Virginia prison official that revealed itself in the savagery and barbarity of the use of solitary confinement. The law Virginia Code 53.1-39.2 (Restorative Housing, Restriction on use) was in itself a timid and feeble effort by The Virginia General Assembly at reforming the use of a type of detention which the Supreme Court of The United States had declared as being (and I paraphrase) asocial, serving no social good and drove its victim prisoners insane, which the self-immolating Red Onion State Prison Koncentration Kamp prisoner in 2024 underscores and is case study. Now the conventional response to the passage and subsequent veto of the positive parts of Virginia Code 53.1-39.2 was, well it's a start and the work and struggle continues to accomplish reining in the use of solitary confinement by the Virginia prison official. Now that mindset has been bane in so many more ways than one. Because what is consistently overlooked is the prisoner or in this case the Virginia prisoner is a fact of and only exist because of LAW, the same law the prison official willy nilly, violates and breaks with the deviance of the supposition of "above the law". Governor Glenn Youngkin has already revealed his effrontery and abject poverty towards the compliance of law and it's underpinning faith in the Social Contract, when he spit in all the face of Virginians victimized by it, when he embraced the 34 count felony convicted and sex assault adjudged currently president-elect Donald Trump. Yes this work is polemic against the double speak of Due Process.

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

Self-Immolation and Hunger strike Update At Virginia Red Onion State Prison ~ Ekong Eshiet

Ekong Eshiet

By Prison Radio

JUST AS VIRGINIA SLAVE OWNERS DURING SLAVERY WOULD SHIP CERTAIN ENSLAVED TO OTHER PLANTATIONS, THE VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS HAS KEPT UP THE PRACTICE BY SHIPPING CERTAIN PRISONERS TO OTHER PRISON SYSTEMS BY WILLIAM THORPE

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

When Kevin Rashid Johnson was shipped out of State in 2012 to other State Prison Systems, it wasn't the first time Virginia's status quo had utilized it as extraordinary measures. Removing individuals from slave plantations, to wit contemporary prisons or what they correctly are, Koncentration Kamps, is as old as Virginia's deviations in affairs of humanity. There hasn't been any redemptive accounting in the thought of The Commonwealth of Virginia and its approach to the realization of its Social Contract since its commission of original crimes against humanity, but the theatre of musical chairs. After events in 1984 at Virginia's original Supermax-prison, Mecklenburg Correctional Center (which by the way has been closed) Virginia's status quo took out their ire on Tommy Hashim Cox whose only "offense" was typing up the intentions of protesting prisoners. After shipping Tommy Hashim Cox to The New Mexico prison system in 1985 which at that time was days removed from the Nations worst and bloodiest prison event, where over 30 prisoners lost their lives (see the book The Hate Factory, that documented the events). As an aside now why would Virginia ship Mr. Cox to such a place where the paint wasn't even dry covering the gore?After New Mexico, Mr Cox was shipped to Oregon and Connecticut then after Virginia went on its Koncentration Kamp building spree he was brought back to Sussex l. In 1985 Virginia's status quo shipped Henry Bobilly Gorham Jr. to several States, beginning with Kentucky, then The District of Columbia, then Illinois and again when the twin Koncentration Kamps of Red Onion and Wallens Ridge State Prisons were opened Virginia brought him back in 1999. Malcolm Mack Jefferson was shipped out of State in 1985 to the New Jersey prison system, he also was returned when Sussex l, Red Onion and Wallens Ridge Koncentration Kamps were opened. The now deceased Paul Gum Gum Coomer was shipped to Kentucky and Texas in 1989 then returned to Virginia. The now deceased Joe Giarratano, was shipped to Utah in the 1990's, then to Illinois then returned to the Red Onion Koncentration Kamp in 1998 on its opening. A lot of guys for example the now deceased Donald Tree Sutherland were also shipped out of State, to Minnesota then returned to Virginia. I give these pre Red Onion and Wallens Ridge Koncentration Kamps out of state transfers by the Virginia Department of Corrections, to show the continuum of Virginia's status quo abusing the practice of shipping a Virginia prisoner out of State to an environment and system thousands of miles removed from family and its support which The Virginia Department Of Corrections claims to foster in its mission statement. Case in point see the case FIREWALKER-FIELDS v. VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS 2022 U.S.DIST. LEXIS 114650. The prisoner, Mr. Firewalker-Fields, wanted an out of state or out of Virginia transfer to The State of Maine (because there are two types of out of state transfers, (1) INVOLUNTARY---all the examples that I've given were of the involuntary sort where the prisoner is removed out of a State against their will. (2) VOLUNTARY--- where the prisoner as Mr. Firewalker-Fields seeks it, wants it and ask the State for it. Well when Mr. Firewalker-Fields seeked it he was rebuffed, denied. What is eye opening and relevant to this work is what the Virginia Department of Corrections executive or prison official tasked with its responsibility K. Rosch told Mr. Firewalker-Fields, he said Mr. Firewalker-Fields had family in Virginia. Point being Virginia uses it to punish.

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

SO GOVERNOR GLENN YOUNGKIN WILL HAVE THE DUBIOUS DISTINCTION OF BEING THE VIRGINIA EXECUTIVE WHOSE PRISON POLICIES WERE PROTESTED BY PRISONER SELF-IMMOLATION By William Thorpe

Historically Virginia has shown the world, the depths to which human depravity and sadism reaches and is capable. From the schizophrenic hypocrisies of Thomas Jefferson, through the supremacy delusions of James Madison in support of the chattel enslavement of Black People, Virginia has proclaimed to the world that when it was thought that humanity couldn't be demented, anymore perverted, it had some mouth openers to reveal, so it gave us all the craziness of Samuel Purchas and his HAKLUYTUS POSTHUMUS. Fast forward to Virginia in 2024 and Governor Glenn Youngkin and his strenuous work at resurrecting 1676 Virginia of the long dead Governor George Berkeley, with the tried and proven gambit of suppression by reaction by deploying and exploiting the distraction of opposition to prison reform. Glenn Youngkin became Governor of Virginia in 2022 under the usual reactionary banner of the Republican Party, replacing Eight years of Democratic rule. Eight years that saw certain positive reform moves of Virginia's Justice Infrastructure and the prison system. Reforms that brought on rabid and illogical Republican ire. Solitary Confinement of prisoners is a well used type of imprisonment in Virginia as across the Nation, despite its cruel and unusual nature, which The Supreme Court Of The United States, as early as the 1890's declared in the case IN Re. MEDLEY, to be (and I paraphrase) an infamous punishment without any socially redemptive value. The struggle to rid The Nation of its existence or it's reform has been continuous and ongoing and reformers in Virginia,also have been on the front lines pushing for it's abolishment in Virginia prisons and use by The Virginia Department Of Corrections.During the Republican Governance of Glenn Youngkin and his cabal,efforts to reform Virginia's practice of solitary confinement with all of its deleterious and barbarous effects have produced bills, which Governor Glenn Youngkin in his a Solomonic wisdom irrationally and unconscionably has vetoed. (I have in previous works exposed the irrationality of the veto) What I am focusing on with this work is the consequence of Youngkin's veto.Recently prisoners at Virginia's flagship concentration camp, (hell let me spell it with a k,so it's) kamp, Red Onion State Prison in protest of their solitary confinement and the type and nature of imprisonment it subjects them, have been self-immolating.First of all let's focus on what this truly means.Human beings imprisoned are resorting to the utterly incomprehensible act of setting themselves on fire as means of protest, a manner of speech that their circumstance, their condition is so beyond the pale of known cruelty, known savagery, known monstrosity that their only recourse is to set themselves ablaze, on fire as a result of the Governor of Virginia,Glenn Youngkin's ahumanistic act of vetoing the will and intent of the people of Virginia, to reform the solitary confinement of prisoners in their name. A study of the purported reasons of Youngkin's veto of the anti-solitary confinement bill, reveals its fetid moral bankruptcy, another stark reminder that despite efforts to redeem Virginia from its ahumanistic heritage and tradition, much more work has to be done.What we indict Governor Glenn Youngkin of is his intellectual dishonesty.No one claims that criminal adjudication isn't a necessary state and function of society, but what we oppose is it's doublespeak.

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

IMAGINE IF COPS WROTE THE LAW, WHILE DEPENDING ON ITS VIOLATORS TO FUND THEIR LIFESTYLE, YOU'D SAY CORRUPT RIGHT? WELL THAT'S EXACTLY THE VIRGINIA PRISON OFFICIAL By William Thorpe

Cops or our Government Officials earn a living or fund their existence by their tax payer provided pay checks. Thats not the problem, because, relatively there is a separation or demarcation of sorts from the relationship proximity of job and remuneration. In other words whether a cop earns his or her's pay check isn't dependent on arresting Donald Trump for any number of his criminality. But as soon as the relationship proximity of job and remuneration changes, the job is also corrupted. Case in point, the predicating circumstances of the mid-2000's Ferguson, Missouri riots, was a change in its Cops relationship with those it policed, due to shaking them down or milking them for money besides the critical mass flashpoint, killing of Michael Brown. Ferguson, Missouri isn't the only example of how a change in relationship proximity corrupts, as a matter of fact, it is the rule of our human condition. The measure of this is simply understanding the and that initial reason and purpose of a process or system, its, affixed and intentional relationship proximity to then recognizing when it is being altered. So as it relates to this work of reforming The Virginia Department of Corrections, there are two components to it, which we have to understand (1) What the Department itself has stated is it's purpose or mission, and (2) The deliberate corruption of the statutory law, governing the Department (Virginia Code 53.1) at inception by Virginia politicians. What both of these components tell us and allow is how we define reform. Virginia's prison system as all other prison systems and practices is corrupt, because conceptually the imprisonment idea doesn't lend itself to an unbiased and neutral accounting. Virginia Society as Society in general has an intrinsic hypocritical relationship with those it imprisons for any number of reasons.

So here we go...... What I mean by society in general has an intrinsic hypocritical relationship with those it imprisons for any number of reasons is this:the asserted and articulated reasons for imprisonment are illogical, fraudulent and idealistic at best. Imprisonment as fact of society has nothing to do with the idea of a justice or its stylized practice and I will show that as such in Virginia, the imprisonment scheme is corrupt. If, as I titled this work, Cops wrote laws, then subsequently relied on violators to fund their lifestyle, what we would then have is pure laid bare and naked corruption, not just because Cops as human are inherently corrupt or a helpless totemic fact of, the biblical sin in Genesis, but because it would be a logical and inexorable consequence of allowing the economic beneficiary of law enforcement to be its author, which in other contexts we correctly understand as conflict of interest and also with that adage, "if all one has is a hammer then everything is a nail", is its unapologetic anticipation.But as it concerns Virginia's imprisonment scheme, those we have given the privilege, by voting into political leadership, the authority to put into practice an accountable Justice Infrastructure and Prison system have pathetically violated the idea,compromised and perverted the peoples confidence and faith in it and consequently any claim of its legitimacy.Virginia's scheme of imprisonment is buttressed by The Virginia Constitution and subsequently the statutory authority of Virginia Code 53.1.On it's surface, as all things constructed by and for the social contract or by and for the People, its constituent words sound and ring with objectivity, application and honesty. Then it encounters the cold dash of reality or in other words, just as air or water filling a balloon will quickly reveal holes in the fabric, the pleasing to the ear grandiosity of the constituting words quickly become discordant screeches exposing it as nothing more than artful sophistry, accomplishing the real intent of perpetrating that mechanistic injustice, derived from and of that tired and unoriginal pursuit of political-economy exploitation, by control of a type of historic Virginian. What the statutory process of Virginia Code 53.1 provides the Virginia prison official is that proverbial corruption, a conflict of interest, where the prison official is permitted to write, per Virginia Code 53.1--10, also 53.1---25 and define that which is relatively "law" as policies within the prison context which in turn determines the length and terms of confinement for the Virginia prisoner which the actual imposition of the prison sentence never considered nor envisioned and despite the obvious perversion of law on its face, a clear abrogation of its presumptive held faith by the people, continues unquestioned, unchallenged due to the fact it serves as economic incentive for the Virginia prison official. Because if funding for the lifestyle of the Virginia prison official depends on and is specifically based on the existence of prisoners and if "laws" or policies determining the length and terms of confinement are thought of, structured, put together and advanced by those who benefit from it as their existence base and life support, then such a system is clearly and incorrigibly corrupt. The existence of such a system isn't one of those unintended consequences, a result of structuring a prison system, but rather the result of an insidious undermining of law by Virginia politicians (both Democrats and Republicans, but especially Republicans) and as such must be primarily held accountable, we develop this by reminding The People it exist.

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

OUR ARGUMENTS HAVE ALREADY BEEN MADE FOR US By William Thorpe

When we talk about holding accountable the prison official (and for this work, the Virginia prison official and his/her political overlords, i.e Governor Glenn Youngkin, Attorney General Jason Miyares, Leaders of both Houses of Virginia's General Assembly), what we mean is, we present to society and the voting public, those authorizing arguments and logic used by Government, in this case, Virginia's in it's exercise of the will of the people of Virginia and as it concerns this work, those excuses given the mayhem practiced by the Virginia prison official and show with their own words its compromises and violations.What I want to do with this work is show that the crass obstinacy continuously displayed by Virginia Republicans, currently under the leadership of Governor Glenn Youngkin and Attorney General Jason Miyares, against true reform of Virginia's prison system, its Department of Corrections and its Justice Infrastructure reveals that despite the violation of Virginia's criminal code by the imprisoned, the harmful singularity of consequence done to the Commonwealth of Virginia is that from the systemic violations of its prison officials and those embodying elected political leaders of, firstly THE CONSTITUTION OF VIRGINIA, ITS STATUTORY LAWS, and secondly IT'S TRADITIONS AND PRACTICES and thirdly by their unimaginative and unoriginal opportunistic scapegoating of prisoners, in pursuit of petty and speculative political power, they stand revealed and exposed as nothing more than worshippers of crime. I titled this work, OUR ARGUMENTS HAVE ALREADY BEEN MADE FOR US. The us are those minds and hearts laboring for reform against the reaction and backwardness of the worshippers of crime and their violations and compromises. In Virginia and across the Nation what are relatively accepted as facts are those ascertained in Court proceedings, hence my OUR ARGUMENTS HAVE ALREADY BEEN MADE FOR US. So I'll present a couple of cases adjudicated in our Federal Courts, where the facts ascertained and applied are basis of our Laws and to wit Virginia's, which it's systemic violations by our political overlords, particularly, Republicans, reveal the point that the destroyers of faith in the rule of law, are the very leaders entrusted with formulating and defending it. See the case UNITED STATES v. BANNISTER 786 F. SUPP. 2d 617---pay attention to sub category, C. HISTORY AND SOCIOLOGY. also See the case UNITED STATES v. RIVERA 281 F. SUPP. 3d 269, it has a wealth of history. In support of the findings and rulings are these works, COLLATERAL DAMAGE: NO RE-ENTRY FOR DRUG OFFENDERS by NORA V. DEMEITNER 47 VILL L. REV. 1027....MANDATORY MINIMUM DRUG SENTENCES: THROWING AWAY THE KEY OR THE TAX PAYER MONEY by JONATHAN CAULKINS, C. PETER RYDELL, WILLIAMS SCHWABE and JAMES CHISER also RACE, DRUGS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT IN THE UNITED STATES by JAMIE FELLNER 20 STAN. L. AND POL'Y REV. 257 also THE SOCIAL AND MORAL COST OF MASS INCARCERATION IN AFRICAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITIES 56 STAN. L. REV. 1271 and FIFTY YEARS OF REFLECTION:BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION AND ITS UNIVERSAL IMPLICATIONS: EVERY DAY IS A GOOD DAY FOR A JUDGE TO LAY DOWN HIS PROFESSIONAL LIFE FOR JUSTICE 32 FORDHAM URB. L.J.131 by JACK B.WEINSTEIN. I want to also quote what Federal Judge JACK B. WEINSTEIN said at a symposium on the Nations Justice System....."OUR OWN LEGAL SYSTEM HAS SOMETIMES FAILED TO COUNTER CHALLENGES TO WHAT WE NOW CONSIDER BASIC RIGHTS.I REMIND YOU OF THE DESTRUCTION OF THE INDIAN IN COLONIAL, REVOLUTIONARY AND SUBSEQUENT TIMES THE ALIEN AND SEDITION ACTS, DRED SCOTT AND OTHER PRO-SLAVERY DECISIONS THE SACRIFICE OF FORMER SLAVES' FREEDOM TO THE POLITICAL COMPROMISES TOWARDS THE END OF THE LAST CENTURY CULMINATING IN PLESSEY THE FRUSTRATION OF LEGISLATIVE ATTEMPTS TO PROTECT WORKERS AND OTHERS AGAINST THE EXCESSES OF UNCONSTRAINED CAPITALISM AND THE JAPANESE INTERNMENT CAMPS"...(speech is found at SYMPOSIUM: NAZIS IN THE COURTROOM: LESSONS FROM THE CONDUCT OF LAWYERS AND JUDGES UNDER THE LAWS OF THE THIRD REICH AND VICHY, FRANCE 61 BROOKLYN. L. REV. 1121).....What I want to show with this work is remind those doing the good work of struggling to reform the Justice Infrastructure and the Prison System, that, for example the likes of Governor Glenn Youngkin, Attorney General Jason Miyares, their allied foot soldiers in Virginia's General Assembly who are rabidly anti-reform, are such, not because their opposition are based on a synthesis of the mental labors of our ancients, who contended with the purpose of reform, for the greater good of Political-Economy efficiency. But what their opposition reveals is the limits of their intellectual honesty and enlightenment, as such the work of reform has to reveal and expose it. What the above cited examples of Court activity by Judges objectively show is American Jurisprudence despite its innumerable deviations and distortions inexorably labors towards reform not because of some altruistic inherency and metaphysical realizations, but because, its existence, its deterministic justification lies in its self-affirmation thus honesty and regardless of the dishonesty of the speculative supporting political basis and its subsequent short sightedness, the focus of reform has to be that of standing firm on those Social Contract justifying reasons. In other words, Reform shouldn't allow its opponents to pervert and distort its incontrovertible and unambiguous narrative. Almost to the word, opponents of prison reform have nothing to support their obstinacy, because their expressed reluctance and refusal was itself a position of reform. If there is one thing to be said about the work of reform, it is in a lot of ways, that of the necessary focus and understanding of THE WHY, violations and extra-judicial activities have assumed a systemic nature. So for example Governor Glenn Youngkin vetoed a feeble and ineffective solitary confinement law, on grounds that even mocked and emasculated his very own executive authority. Reform advocacy applauded what little was left of the law as being a step in the right direction. Well humans held in Virginia's solitary confinement cages have recently voiced their disagreements with their hunger strike and self immolation acts.

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

Here is an explanation of why our loved ones are not in prison because of behavior. By William Thorpe

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

Here is an explanation of why our loved ones are not in prison because of behavior.  The idea that adjudication of a criminal code isn't about behavior, is simple. Let's take the example of the meaning of qualified immunity. So a prison official behaves in a certain manner with a prisoner. The prisoner in turn claims the prison officials' behavior caused harm e.t.c. So the prisoner takes the prison official to court, in defense the prison official responds with the law wasn't clear on whether his or her actions or for purposes of this, "behavior" was illegal or unlawful. Our justice system is full of examples of officials causing harm, even to the point of killing and the perpetrating officials are let off, because the law of qualified immunity excuses the behavior, let me repeat, the offending prison official is let off because the law wasn't clear that the behavior was a violation. Yes as humans our actions are behavior, but for the purposes of whether or not we are subjected to legal action, depends on law and its process. Here is another example,(I'm using the Virginia prison official as example because this is a Virginia specific page and site, but the characterization of law holds true for the Nation) a Virginia prison official because of law can physically put their hands on a Virginia prisoner and restrain the prisoner, regardless of reason in other words a human thats a Virginia prison official can exhibit the behavior of placing their hands on a human that's a Virginia prisoner, but if a Virginia prisoner places their hands on a Virginia prison official without the prison official's permission, it is an impermissible and unlawful contact, which the Virginia prisoner can be charged with a prison infraction or even prosecuted in a court of law. So once again what I'm showing is criminal prosecution or legal adjudication isn't about behavior but law and its process. How often have we heard the colloquial expression, "if I did what he or she did I'd be locked up", which is a simplest way of saying all that I've said. As all of this relates to prisoners held in solitary confinement, any type of confinement or detention by a State or Government is a result of law and its process, yes the presumption and assumption is "behavior" is the predicate or cause but the reality is without law and its process, behavior is just that a generic fact of being human.

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

What systemic failures are leading to excessive deaths in Virginia's prisons, and is there sufficient oversight to prevent future tragedies?

VPM

In the past decade, Virginia's state-run prisons have seen over a dozen homicides. Additionally, hundreds of inmates have suffered serious injuries or died from causes like suicide and drug overdose. Given these circumstances, the public should be aware of the significant challenges facing the state's prison system and advocate for reforms to improve inmate safety and well-being.

By VPM

Ex-Convict Reveals How He Survived Decades in Virginia Jails and Prisons | Jason Brewer

NOT ONLY ARE WE AWASH IN PRISON REFORM GROUPS, BUT HAVE YOU CHECKED OUT IT's MENTAL LABOR? WELL THE FACT OF THE MATTER IS WE KEEP VOTING FOR THOSE, WHO WORSHIP CRIME AND SCAPE GOAT PRISONERS By William Thorpe

Awright first of all I'm a prisoner, I'm in solitary confinement and on top of that Virginia exiled me to the Texas prison system. I say this to state that there isn't much about Virginia and to wit the Nation's criminal justice apparatus and system that is lost on me. Now let me also say this, that as I put this together, prisoners at Virginia's comprehensive immersion into the CONCENTRATION CAMP business, RED ONION STATE PRISON, the prison I was held at from its opening in 1998, (as a matter of fact I was one of the first in its A-Building) to 2019,when I was flown on the Governor of Virginia's plane, exiled to Texas, are setting themselves on fire, going on hunger strikes in protest of the same old tired, barbarous and savage prison official attitudes, behavior and practices that not only are extra-judicial but have nothing to do with the mission statement and purpose of The Virginia Department of Corrections. The human, the Virginian convicted of violating law and then imprisoned is not the measure of incorrigibility as the narrative of the Justice Infrastructure, its functionaries and support system, scape goats. But the embodiment of the Justice Infrastructure and prison system, the prison official is the vessel of incorrigibility. We don't hold nor indict the personalization of behavior instead what we indict and hold to account are THE SOCIAL CONTRACT and the civilization it defines. Because what the behavior of the Virginia prison official in 2024, reveals and clearly instructs is, if what we have and experience are a practice of barbarity and savagery, predating the twenty or thirty something year old prison official perpetrator, yet is the same thing Virginia's Social Contract and political-economy was doing to enslaved Black people as parameters and terms of its social relations and were clearly vile, a humanistic and that most base of conduct, hypocrisy. Then that individual human, that Virginian in violation of a criminal code is a point for reintegration, while the prison official malfeasance exist as a systemic continuum to be reformed. I titled this work, acknowledging the proliferation of prison reform groups in Virginia and across the Nation, yet the barbarity and savagery of the prison official continues relatively unabated. This carceral fact speaks to that typical social fact, which is, what we understand, how we want to understand it and to what extent are we allowing it to guide our motive force and activity. You know what, let me state the obvious, which is, THE or THAT AGENCY OF OUR SPEECH. So naturally and contextually we state and indicate our agency by what we do. In Virginia society and Nationally the highest act is that of voting. If THE PRISON SYSTEM, is the quintessential value of society and on all accounts it is then society has to and must understand it, because those society votes for, in absence of that necessary understanding will as we have continuously experienced take advantage of the existing social ignorance and continue behaviors and practices which in the light of day are discredited and indicted as uncivilized while as I have posited, exist and flourish in the prison officials behavior in the confines of Virginia's Concentration Camps, which a former Virginia Governor described as "his monument" which proves my point that incorrigibility isn't as scapegoated, a purview of the convicted, but is status quo.

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

Why Was My Neighbor Tear Gassed? By Kevin Rashid Johnson

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

YEAH A TOME ON THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA MURDERING ITS PEOPLE by DALE BRUMFIELD, IS A REMINDER BUT WHAT WE NEED IS AN ACCOUNTING OF THE INCIDENT OF RICHARD BOGGS By William Thorpe

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

The author Dale Brumfield, has provided us with a recount of Virginia's savage history in his recent CLOSING THE SLAUGHTER HOUSE book, a work on The Commonwealth of Virginia killing people. Any statement on history, provides perspective, as such Dale Brumfield's work on Virginia's practice of executions or killing people gives us that. When a society, State, or in this instance The Commonwealth of Virginia kills a person, the manner or process is subsequently given and ascribed a legal character independent and irrespective of the death fact, which exist for itself regardless and independent of process, so the only thing relevant about the death fact then is process, with its if outside of legality, a murder. As such accounting of the death fact is within and on the terms of process. The Commonwealth of Virginia murdered, Richard Boggs upon conviction of capital murder. Richard Boggs, a 21year old white male was convicted of the murder and robbery of Ms. Treeby Shaw, an 87 year old widow,from Portsmouth, Virginia, affirmed by The Virginia Supreme Court in BOGGS v. COMMONWEALTH 229 Va. 501 (1985). The subsequent execution of Richard Boggs by The Commonwealth of Virginia for the capital murder of Ms. Treeby, despite its revelatory existence as data point in Mr. Brumfield's compendium on Virginia's killing of people, is actually inconsequential within the specifics of the anti-death penalty debate, argument and movement, as intended by Mr. Brumfield.Instead what the Boggs incident does provide is the clear and unambiguous point, that a JUSTICE INFRASTRUCTURE, purportedly existing to distinguish legality, is actually a cover, a masquerade, exposing the savagery beneath Virginia's civilized veneer. In a January 19, 2023 work titled, NPR UNCOVERED SECRET EXECUTION TAPES FROM VIRGINIA MORE REMAIN HIDDEN, Chiara Eisner told us that the Commonwealth of Virginia virtually murdered Richard Boggs, because if a "legal" killing is a distinction of PROCESS, then the taped killing of Boggs by Virginia as revealed by Ms. Eisner was murder. Its this, incident, with this murder that we ask author Dale Brumfield, along with THE DEATH PENALTY INFORMATION CENTER, that their unwavering focus is also directed. Ms. Eisner's reporting revealed that those Virginia Department of Corrections prison officials tasked with the killing of Richard Boggs carried it out in violation of and outside of the defined process, that made killings of people by The State legal. Ms. Eisner tells us, (and I paraphrase) prison officials carrying out the killing of Richard Boggs were not in and didn't have phone contact with the Governor of Virginia, who at that time was Douglas Wilder, The first Black Governor of a State since reconstruction. As an aside and an irony, that the violation of the law occurred under the authority of Virginia's first Black Governor considering the central thesis of Mr. Brumfield's work, that Virginia's use of the death penalty was a mechanism of controlling its Black citizens is inescapable. What those tapes of the killing of Richard Boggs show is, how it was nothing but murder, because of the violation of THE PROCESS. Maintaining contact with THE GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA DURING STATE KILLING OR EXECUTIONS IS MANDATORY BECAUSE THE GOVERNOR HAS FIAT AUTHORITY TO INTERRUPT AND CALL OF THE KILLING. Being out of contact with The Governor means the killing is occurring extra-judicially, outside of the process that makes it legal and without that veneer of legality, which for a subjective of a type of Virginia's history is nothing more.

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

Nature Of The Reform Conversation

By vapac
 

Track Changes ~ Before the Miracle Happens ~ Episode 5

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

Seven years have passed since the REAL program's exit from Richmond Virginia City Jail. Speech, the program's founder, now looks back on the lives of the men he once inspired through music. His reflections extend beyond the program's impact, addressing the systemic issues that continue to hinder successful re-entry for countless individuals across the country.

NPR

The Harm Done By Prison Officials

 

By Vapac

Virgina Day On Solitary Confinement

Virginia's regulations on solitary confinement stipulate that adults are confined to their cells for a minimum of 20 hours daily, while juveniles face 17 hours. These conditions, often described as "cruel and unusual punishment," have been linked to severe mental health deterioration, including hallucinations, paranoia, and suicidal thoughts. Despite numerous lawsuits and advocacy efforts, Virginia's prisons continue to utilize solitary confinement extensively, raising concerns about its long-term impact on incarcerated individuals and its potential violation of human rights.

By vapac

November Second Sunday On Solitary Confinement in Virginia

 By vapac

The role of probation and parole in mass incarceration

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

"Approximately four million individuals are currently under parole or probation supervision. However, preventing recidivism and reducing prison populations is a complex challenge. Vincent Schiraldi, a leading expert in criminal justice reform, argues that the current system of parole and probation is ineffective and should be abolished. In his book, "Mass Supervision: Probation, Parole, and the Illusion of Safety and Freedom," Schiraldi explores the limitations of these practices and proposes alternative solutions." Think Podcast @NPR

Immediate Action Required to Shut Down Red Onion State Prison By Kimberly Zittlow

 

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

Governor Glenn Youngkin,

The conditions at Red Onion State Prison are a blatant violation of basic human rights, and your administration can no longer ignore them. For years, this facility has been a symbol of systemic abuse, inhumane treatment, and psychological torture. I urge you to take immediate action to shut down this facility. If swift changes aren’t made, these issues will need to be reported to national media outlets and federal authorities to expose the horrific conditions being forced upon the inmates at Red Onion.

The inhumane treatment at this facility is well-documented. Inmates are subjected to prolonged solitary confinement, often confined to small, dark cells for 23 hours a day with almost no human contact. This extreme isolation, compounded by a lack of adequate mental health care, is devastating. There are numerous recent accounts of inmates driven to desperate measures, including self-harm and even setting themselves on fire, in an attempt to escape the physical and psychological torment

The facility’s issues extend beyond psychological abuse. The physical mistreatment of inmates is rampant, with guards frequently using painful restraint techniques—bending fingers, twisting limbs, and even withholding basic necessities. These actions are designed to break the spirit of those incarcerated, turning Red Onion into a factory of suffering rather than a place of rehabilitation..

Additionally, the so-called "Step-Down" program at Red Onion is nothing more than a sham. Inmates are frequently reclassified and sent back to solitary confinement for arbitrary or minor infractions, forcing them to restart the program from scratch. This endless cycle traps inmates, leaving them no real path to reintegration and perpetuating the system of mental torture.

One of the most heartbreaking issues is the treatment of inmates in the Restorative Housing Unit (RHU). These men are routinely served small portions of inedible, substandard food, leaving them hungry and malnourished. It is a disgrace that in a nation as wealthy as ours, people are being starved behind bars. This is not just poor treatment; it is cruel, inhumane, and a violation of basic human decency.

Governor Youngkin, this cannot continue. The conditions at Red Onion State Prison are a stain on Virginia’s moral compass. If you fail to take decisive action, these issues will inevitably be brought to the national stage. Major media networks, human rights organizations, and the Department of Justice will be informed in order to shed light on the ugly truth. The stories of abuse, mistreatment, and deliberate cruelty need to be heard, and they will demand justice.

It is your responsibility to ensure that no one, regardless of their circumstances, is subjected to the level of suffering consistently being reported at the Red Onion. The facility must be shut down, and an independent investigation launched to fully expose and address the systemic abuse within its walls. Anything less would be a gross dereliction of your duty to protect the rights and dignity of all individuals.

I urge you to act immediately, Governor. The world is watching, and the inmates at Red Onion are waiting for someone to recognize their humanity.

--

Sincerely,

Kimberly Zittlow 

The Second Sundays In November Are Established As Virginia Day On Solitary Confinement Awareness Day

On this Solitary Confinement Awareness Day, the Virginia Prisons Accountability Committee urges the public to reflect on the profound impact of solitary confinement. This practice, meant to be a measure of last resort, has profound psychological effects on individuals and is a pressing human rights concern. We advocate for transparency, accountability, and reform in the use of solitary confinement within our correctional facilities. We encourage community members to educate themselves on the realities of solitary confinement, support legislative reforms such as HB 1244, and join us in our efforts to promote humane treatment and rehabilitation over punitive isolation. Together, we can work towards a justice system that embodies the principles of fairness and dignity for all.

The second Sunday in November will represent a speaking out in whatever manner available in accord with ones ability against solitary confinement. If its tweets,  posts on the various social media platforms, t-shirts, signs, videos, radio call-ins, and discussions     That clearly state to our politicians that abusing and driving prisoners insane in our name, we the people isn't what we vote for.

Please use these hashtags       either or both

#VaDayOnSolitaryConfinement

#NovemberVASecondSunday

vapac

WE ALL NEED TO REMEMBER WHAT OUR SPEECH MEANS, BECAUSE IT MEANS IT ALL By William Thorpe

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

Here we go again: The word coming out of, The Virginia Department Of Corrections, Red Onion State Prison or as its correctly known, Virginia's Concentration Camp. Yup a concentration camp, like those used by the British for those rebellious South African Boers, or when the Germans practiced it's use on those Namibian tribes men, before deploying it during World War II. I give this background to state: Virginia's Red Onion State Prison is just as vile, barbaric and malevolent as the above cited antecedents on all accounts. So the recent word out of Red Onion is, prisoners in its cages are attempting self immolation as protest of the extra judicial treatment meted, in the usual form of racism, abuses and all the other stunts Virginia prison officials malfeasantly and unoriginally do. To get all into critiquing the extra judicial impulses of the Virginia prison official, is to indulge in that game of complicity. I say complicity because who amongst the Virginia polity isn't aware of the savagery of the Virginia prison official? Hell even fetuses in the womb experience recoil from its shocking accounts, not because of the depravity of the deed, but because the perpetrators are Virginia Government Officials, PRISON OFFICIALS, who have swore to uphold and comply with LAW, yet are its par none violators. So no, my focus isn't to simply give another recount of the prison officials misdeeds and savagery or for the umpteenth, denounce the blight on humanities push for progress and civilization, the existence of Red Onion State Prison, as Virginia's concentration camp which by the way a former Virginia Governor dementedly declared was "his monument", another proof of how Red Onion State Prison only perverts. My focus is to remind us, WE THE PEOPLE, that all that is compromised by our elected and political leaders, which we see played out and by the way isnt limited to the barbarity of the prison system and JUSTICE INFRASTRUCTURE are results of our failure to realize the absolute value of our speech. SPEECH is everything, silence is speech, activity is speech, agency of our humanness is quintessential speech.What I'm saying isn't novel insight nor do I presume it. I just want to remind, all the Mothers,Wives, Sisters, Fathers, Brothers, Children, families, friends of Virginia prisoners. I also speak to those harmed, victims of alleged crimes and deviant behavior, because the conventional narrative is the speech and interest of those harmed by criminality and deviant behavior are at odds with that of the alleged perpetrator, convicted and imprisoned and the fact of the matter is, its false and an exploited insidious dichotomy, because without the speech of the victim of crime presented for itself within the full panoply of the social contract, what we have are politicians compounding the harm by exploiting the event, when what the crime victim demands is, it shouldn't have happened. We can't get at those basic and fundamental facts if what we accept are sanctimony and hypocritical speech from our elected political leaders and representatives.Virginia's Social Contract or the Politics is a fact of SPEECH. Every aspect of Virginia's establishment is speech. All shortcomings and governmental failures, i.e the savagery of the prison official are results of speech. My point is this, we have the resources to hold the Virginia prison official accountable. So, for example, when you call into those myriad talk shows, exposing the savagery of the prison official and the host attempts to dismiss you with that silly flip of prison isn't this or that, remind them, that THE PRISON OFFICIAL SHOULDN'T BREAK LAW EITHER.

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