Reinstate Parole in Virginia
The statewide Commonwealth poll found strong support across political parties and racial groups for reinstating parole. The idea had the support of:
*75 percent of all Virginians
*86 percent of Democrats
*68 percent of Republicans
*88 percent of Black respondents
*77 percent of White respondents With this many people in support of bringing back parole, why has there been so much resistance when it comes to passing prison reform legislation through the General Assembly? T
Prisoners and allies: Stronger together!
Recently VAPOC has been soliciting for family members from amongst the prison population who would like to be the face of the end mass incarceration rally that we are striving to have in Richmond at the beginning of 2018. So far we don't have hardly any volunteer family members. To me this is just a reflection of the overall mentality of the prison population here in Virginia. It is not the family members per se, it is the prisoners. Most of the population do not take their i
Justice for Rojai Lavar
While working as a law clerk in the Augusta prison law library, I have had the privilege of assisting Rojai Lavar Fentress with fighting for his actual innocence. He has been incarcerated since the age of 15 for over 19 years for a murder that he didn't commit. He received new evidence in the form of an affidavit from the actual perpetrator of the crime, as well as evidence showing that the star witness identified someone else. The affidavit had to withstand the test for reli
The 13th Amendment & the Slavetocracy
The 13th Amendment states: "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude except as punishment for a crime whereof the person shall have been duly convicted shall exist within the United States or any place subject to its jurisdiction." This infamous clause has now fallen under much public scrutiny, but what has not been said is how this Amendment is in direct violation of Article 4 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which was adopted by the United Nations. It states: "
Truth in Sentencing
At the recent conference call that was held on the 12th of November I spoke on Truth-in-Sentencing (TIS) as a tool of mass incarceration and some of the direct and indirect effects on our communities. TIS laws were adopted by the states in 1994 as a part of the plot to curb violent crime. As an incentive, the Federal government gave out grants to states who adopted these laws ($47 million in VA). In Virginia, parole was abolished, 85% laws were enacted (prisoners must do 85%
