VIRGINIA PRISON JUSTICE NEWSLETTER
Issue #19 December 18, 2018
Update: HOUSE BILL NO. 1689, for
2019 Session
Offered January 9, 2019
Prefiled December 7, 2018
A BILL to amend and reenact §53.1-165.1
of the Code of Virginia, relating to parole;
exception to limitation on the application
of parole statutes.
Patron-- Delegate Joseph Lindsey
Provides that a person is entitled to parole
if (i) such person was sentenced by a jury
prior to the date of the Supreme Court of
Virginia decision in Fishback v.
Commonwealth, 260 Va. 104 (June 9,
2000), in which the Court held that a jury
should be instructed on the fact that parole
has been abolished, for a noncapital felony
committed on or after the abolition of
parole going into effect (on January 1,
1995) and (ii) the jury was not instructed
on the abolition of parole.
Write to show your support for this bill:
Bill Patron:
Delegate Joseph Lindsey
Pocahontas Building, Room W225
900 East Main Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219
Bill Co-Patrons
Delegate Lamont Bagby
Pocahontas Building, Room E319
900 East Main Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219
and
Delegate Kaye Kory
Pocahontas Building, Room E401
900 East Main Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219
Medicaid Expansion
Info. from RIHD. Incarcerated people are
eligible for FULL in-patient hospital care
paid by Medicaid (Federal). Individuals
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Virginia General Assembly 2019 From all of us involved in the
Virginia Prison Justice Network, we
A message from SALT (Social Action hope for real change in 2019
Linking Together)
The Virginia General Assembly convenes
on Wednesday, January 9, 2019. This
year's session will be for 45 days, ending
Saturday, February 23. We will continue
to keep you updated regarding human
service and prison issues requiring your
advocacy, and will provide guidance for
advocating on these issues.
We have 100 Delegates in the Virginia
House and 40 Senators in the Virginia
Senate. ​Your representatives in the
Virginia General Assembly need to know
their constituents care about protecting
services for Virginia’s most vulnerable
families and expect the incarcerated to be
treated humanely. These elected officials A Resource for Those with Hep C
need to know that we taxpayers are
watching what they do and what they are The National Hepatitis Corrections
failing to do in our name. Network (NHCN) responds to prisoners
Have your outside people speak at PUBLIC with questions on their rights to care and
HEARINGS ON THE BUDGET. also provides useful information on this
virus. Write to them at:
● BUDGET HEARINGS: the
"Money Committee" National Hepatitis Corrections Network
meeting/Hearing is scheduled in 1621 South Jackson Street, Suite 201
late December or early January. Seattle, WA 98144
Public Hearing begins at 10:00 am
in the NOVA area. HB 1642 Solitary confinement; data
Representatives of the House and collection and reporting (for 2019
the Senate budget committees will Session)
be taking testimony. Speakers get
three minutes to emphasize their Update: 11/26/2018 Prefiled and ordered
points. Arrive early! printed; offered 01/09/19
● The Second opportunity is the Introduced by Del. Patrick Hope
Fairfax County Delegation's
(D-Arlington) with support from co-patron
"Off-to-Richmond" hearing at the
Del. Kaye Kory (D-Falls Church)
FXCO Government Center Board
Room at 9:00 am on 1st or 2nd Solitary confinement; data collection and
Saturday in January. Consider reporting; report. Requires the Department
signing-up early as well to secure of Corrections to submit an annual report to
an early slot to testify by the General Assembly and the Governor
contacting: the Fairfax County containing specified statistical information
Board of Supervisors - Clerk's regarding the Department's use of solitary
Office 703.324.3151 during
confinement, as defined in the bill.
regular work hours.
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have to apply. ​ ​Please check with your
prison fo​r ​additional information and
applications asap. Then share the good
news of better and increased health care
for incarcerated people. Upon release,
formerly incarcerated are eligible to
receive FULL outpatient AND inpatient
Medicaid assistance. Again,
INDIVIDUALS must apply.
For additional information, verification
and application click below link and check
the VA Department of Corrections.
https://www.healthinsurance.org/virginia-
medicaid/
January 12th 2nd Annual Prison
Reform Rally in Richmond, Virginia
Mark your calendars!
Saturday, January 12 at Capital Square (corner
of 9th and Bank).
2:00 - 3:00 PM
Last year’s rally at the Capital was a great
success. We will hold a rally during the
Virginia General Assembly to call for long
overdue legislative change and to amplify the
voices of prisoners and their families. The rally his true life’s work. Three autobiographies
will provide an opportunity to hear the stories
of mass incarceration and also to learn how
people can get involved in creating change.
Hosted by the Defenders for Freedom, Justice
& Equality and the Coalition for Justice.
The Virginia Prison Justice Newsletter​ ​is first issue, the abolitionist, himself
published by the Coalition for Justice. VAPJN
is a statewide network of organizations
committed to ending mass incarceration.
vapjn1@gmail.com
https://vapjn.wordpress.com/
Contact:
Coalition for Justice
PO Box 299
Blacksburg, VA 24063
2
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● Other Delegation meetings
information: Most jurisdiction's
legislative delegations hold public
hearing before the General
assembly opens the first
Wednesday after the first Saturday
after New Year's Day in January.
Here too speakers get three
minutes to emphasize their points.
For more information on SALT, contact
John Horejsi, SALT at ​jhorejsi@cox.net
Check out their website to see what
advocacy opportunities are coming up.
https://www.s-a-l-t.org/contact-us.html
The New North Star
Frederick Douglass was born a slave, in
Maryland in 1818, and he escaped to
freedom and a life of voice and pen,
thundering against slavery and for justice
and the rights of African Americans and
women.
Douglass brought the brutal inhumanity of
slavery to northern audiences and launched
and countless pamphlets and editorials
show a language both lyrical and beautiful.
“We have opened our papers,” he wrote,
“new and damp from the press.”
He founded the North Star newspaper,
attacking slavery in the south and racism in
the north, and supported women’s suffrage
at Seneca Falls in 1848. ​In the newspaper's
formerly enslaved wrote, "It is evident that
we must be our own representatives and
advocates, not exclusively, but peculiarly,
— not distinct from, but in connection with
— our white friends."
Now, 171 years later, activist and
journalist Shaun King and his friend Ben
Dixon plan to revive the paper. King says
that it's "necessary for where we're going
and where we are as a country on issues of
voting rights, police brutality, mass
incarceration," that people have a news
source like ​The North Star.
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New Larceny Threshold Bill, for
2019 Session
Introduced by Del. Cliff Hayes
(D-Chesapeake) with support from
co-patrons Del. Kaye Kory (D-Falls
Church), Del. Marcus Simon (D-Falls
Church), Del. Vivian Watts
(D-Annandale), and Sen. John Edwards
(D-Roanoke)
Updated:​ 11/28/2018 Prefiled and ordered
printed; offered 01/09/19
Grand larceny; threshold. Increases from
$500 to $750 the threshold amount of
money taken or value of goods or chattel
taken at which the crime rises from petit
larceny to grand larceny. The bill increases
the threshold by the same amount for the
classification of certain property crimes.
For 2019 Session: HB 1665
Court-established community service
programs; community service work
in lieu of payment of fine, etc.
Updated: 12/03/2018 Prefiled and ordered
printed; offered 01/09/19
Introduced by: Del. Cliff Hayes
(D-Chesapeake)
Court-established community service
programs; community service work in lieu
of payment of fine or costs. Requires courts
to provide an option to any person upon
whom a fine and costs have been imposed
to discharge all or part of the fine or costs
by earning credits for the performance of
community service work before or after
imprisonment. Under current law,
providing this option is discretionary.
Sign the RIHD Online Petition to
Stop the Unfair Sentencing Trap in
VA (FISHBACK & SENTENCING
DISPARITY)
Tell your outside people to sign the
petition and let your legislators know
that we must have sentencing reform in
2019! Go to:

Education and Incarceration
Gerard Robinson is the Executive Director
of the Center for Advancing Opportunity.
He recently wrote, “For the more than
37,000 men and women inside our
prisons—many of whom are
parents—education matters to them as
well... Sixty percent of available jobs
within the Commonwealth’s diverse and
growing economy now require more than a
high school diploma. Since 95 percent of
Virginia’s incarcerated population will
eventually return to their communities, our
challenge is to ensure they return home
with the skills and education necessary to
find long term employment, which reduces
the chances of committing future crimes
and ultimately results in safer communities
and a better economy for all.”
Five community colleges in Virginia
(Rappahannock, Danville, Southside,
Germanna and Piedmont) are already
partnering with correctional facilities to
provide post secondary instruction toward
an Associate of Arts degree as well as
workforce certificates and credentials in
skills in such as carpentry and welding.
These programs have demonstrated some
success, but have long waiting lists and
still leave 34 of Virginia’s 41 prisons
without high quality post-high school
educational opportunities. It’s time to write
to the Virginia House of Delegates and
Senate Leadership and budget committee
members and ask for more funding!
Senator Stephen D. Newman is the
Senate Chair for Education & Health.
Write to him: ​P.O. Box 480, Forest,
Virginia 24551
email: district23@senate.virginia.gov
Senator Thomas Norment is the Senate
Co-Chair of the Finance Committee
Write to him: P.O. Box 6205,
Williamsburg, Virginia 23188
email: district03@senate.virginia.gov
Find your delegate here:
https://virginiageneralassembly.gov/house/
members/members.php
.https://actionnetwork.org/letters/stop-the-unfair
(Continued from page 2) -sentencing-trap-in-va
He says he wants people to have the Juvenile Justice Reform Act
information they need in order to take a
stand on these issues. On December 13th, Congress passed the
With permission from the Douglass family​, Juvenile Justice Reform Act of 2018, the
King says the new team plans to bring the first reauthorization of the Juvenile Justice
paper into the modern age and publish on and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974
the Internet while also providing its since 2002. This reauthorization requires
audience podcasts, video news services and states to create plans to eliminate the
mobile apps for both iPhone and Android. shackling of detained or incarcerated
King also said that the team is working to pregnant youth. It also has the requirement
eventually create a version of the news on removing juveniles from adult jails and
geared toward children. detention facilities and focuses on
The new North Star will launch soon and is reducing the disproportionate number of
being backed through crowdfunding. So juvenile members of minority groups who
far, 14,171 people have joined together to come into contact with the juvenile justice
system.
help re-launch Douglass’ influential
publication. We will keep everyone Unfortunately the legislation still includes
posted! the Valid Court Order exemption, allowing
youth to continue to be incarcerated for
A New Year’s Resolution for ALL nonviolent status offenses.
The next step is for the president to sign on.
When prisoners get mail, it shows that
they are not forgotten, that someone is This Act needs to be reauthorized but we
also should urge our legislators to stop
paying attention. Write to prisoners or,
at the very least, comment on their placing ​Virginia’s youth in juvenile prisons
writings! It, literally, takes just a few and, instead, support evidence-informed,
minutes. community-based alternatives that will
Check out these blog posts and take the keep youth at home with their families and
time to send a comment. We send all communities and keep communities safer.
comments back to prisoners. Rise for Youth is an organization that
works toward that goal. They also seek to
Thanks! increase the likelihood that youth will
become law-abiding adults by investing in
community- based alternatives to juvenile
https://vapjn.wordpress.com/prisoner-b
justice system involvement and to ​reduce
log/
the number of youth arrested, referred,
under the supervision of the Department of
Juvenile Justice or committed to the
Department of Juvenile Justice.
https://www.riseforyouth.org/
A Final Note on Legislation
We’ve only mentioned the bills that have
numbers assigned to them. There will be
more bills re/introduced. Don’t worry!