Recently Virginia Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares was again in the news hectoring and lecturing Virginia legislators, with his cat nip fascination over Virginia prisoners receiving "good time" or Earned Sentence Credits, which of all that is wrong with The Commonwealth's Social Contract, is his singular focus and he's quoted as saying, "Too many elected officials have decided to use the law as a social experiment rather than as a shield", because his point is, supposedly 35.5% of 7,193 Virginia prisoners released due to the Earned Sentence Credits law reoffended, therefore the law not only is suspect but it renders its proponents vulnerable to that ridiculous, infantile and idealistic Republican critique of "social experiment" or its other formulation popularized by the clay feet of reactionary politics, Newt Gingrich, "social engineering".
Look people this is crazy. Here we have the Attorney General of Virginia, a Constitutional Office, as such is intended to inspire and consequently be forward looking. Yet the current occupant, Jason Miyares is giving us the most insensate of arguments, which quite frankly is indefensible and is only tolerated because of the deference and benefit of the doubt given and accorded the office. We are told that a law which a majority of Virginians voted for because they demanded reform of an imprisonment scheme and condition done in their name and authority, must be scrapped, because Jason Miyares and the "thought" that he represents, is politically at odds with it? And the argument is because 35.5% of Virginians released from prison under the law, supposedly reoffended and you know what let's even ignore context and deal with our Attorney General's argument on its terms, yeah the Jason Miyares vantage, which is if 2,553.15 of 7,193 released prisoners reoffended, it means,4,639.485 didn't and in what world wouldn't that be a cause for celebration?. People think about this 64.5% of prisoners released under a law incentivizing the Virginia prisoner's behavior DIDN'T REOFFEND and our Attorney General Jason Miyares wants to scrap the law ?.
The point I'm making brings me to my central focus, these past 3+ years rule of Republican as Governor of Virginia Glenn Youngkin have been that colloquial, when you think it can't get worse, Virginia Republicans say oh hell yeah we'll make it worse, because who would have thought that we'd see the Virginia prisoner reduced to perdition and it's desperation of self-immolation? and that wasn't beyond the pale enough till the Director of The Virginia Department of Corrections Chadwick Dotson, opened his mouth dismissing the fact that prisoners entrusted to his care where setting themselves on fire, who by the way before assuming the position as Director was Chairman of The Virginia Parole Board and before that was a Circuit Judge of Wise County. I mean in a sane, sensible and incorruptible world we would retrace and review every single decision Chadwick Dotson has ever made in his professional life, because his comments alone on the prisoner self-immolation at Koncentration Kamp Red Onion State Prison are defacto disqualifiers, and aren't Judges supposed to exhibit Solomonic wisdom?. Anyway the point is, in light of all of this sword of Damocles savagery and barbarism hanging over Virginia Republicans and their prison policies, Virginia Democrats running for Statewide and Local Elections in November have revealed themselves, despite the fact that during their last ascension to the reins of Virginia Governance and Government, they accomplished significant prison reforms, incapable of saying what all rule of law and its due process Virginia adherent understand, which is The Virginia Department of Corrections is corrupt and begs for an accounting. Which is what these November Elections anticipate.
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