Anti-Parole Whistleblower Prompts Investigation of Virginia Parole Board by Casey Bastian by Casey J. Bastian Following a series of complaints resulting from the parole of 329 Virginia state prisoners in 2020, a whistleblower released several emails sent between members of the Virginia Parole Board (“VPB”) employees. The leaked emails were …
Virginia Federal Court Sentences Former Superintendent of Rockbridge County Jail to 51 Months in Prison for Brutality and Corruption by In May 2021, the former supervisor of Virginia’s Rockbridge County Regional Jail was sentenced to 51 months in federal prison after he was convicted for violating the civil rights of …
Virginia Prison Guards Attack Prisoners with Dogs by Keith Sanders by Keith Sanders Two prisoners recently filed suit against the Virginia Department of Corrections (VDOC) alleging that guards used unmuzzled dogs to attack and maul them. The plaintiffs are represented by Kelly Jo Popkin, an attorney with Rights Behind Bars, …
Virginia Votes to Abolish Death Penalty by Jayson Hawkins by Jayson Hawkins The use of DNA testing to overturn hundreds of wrongful convictions in the U.S. has revealed deep racial inequalities in the criminal justice system. Emboldened by victories at the polls in 2018 and 2020, Democrats are calling for …
News in Brief by Australia: A February 2021 ruling by the Supreme Court in the Australian province of Victoria presented “a rare win” for a prisoner contesting prison procedures, according to a report by The Conversation. The convict, 56-year-old Craig Minogue, argued that Barwon Prison’s random drug testing and strip-searching …
GEO Group Puts Money, Lobbyist into Defeating Bill to Prohibit Private Prisons in Virginia by David Reutter by David M. Reutter As Virginia was poised to consider a bill to end private prisons, the GEO Group entered the fray with donations to legislators and lobbyists. The bill met a quick …
Fourth Circuit Holds Immigrant Children’s Mental Health Care Should Be Up to Professional Standards by David Reutter by David M. Reutter The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals held “that a facility caring for unaccompanied children fails to provide a constitutionally adequate level of mental health care if it departs from …
Boley v. Armor Correctional Health Services, Inc, VA, Complaint, Wrongful Death-Medical Neglect, 2021 Case 2:21-cv-00197-RCY-LRL Document 1 Filed 04/14/21 Page 1 of 28 PageID# 1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA Norfolk Division JAMES A. BOLEY, JR., ADMINISTRATOR OF THE ESTATE OF ROBERT LEE BOLEY, DECEASED, …
News in Brief by Alabama: Two Alabama jail guards were arrested in just two months for allegedly smuggling cellphones to inmates. In February 2021, 27-year-old D’Mario Jones was fired and charged with two counts of promoting prison contraband at the Lee County Detention Center in Opelika where he worked. According …
Virginia Settles Two Lawsuits Over Misuse of Solitary Confinement by Daniel A. Rosen by Daniel A. Rosen Virginia recently settled two outstanding lawsuits alleging the abuse of solitary confinement. Taken together, the payouts cost the state’s taxpayers over $250,000. At a time when Virginia’s General Assembly made progress on other …
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Nexus Services, VA, Complaint, Deceptive and Threatening Practices, 2021 Case 5:21-cv-00016-EKD Document 1 Filed 02/22/21 Page 1 of 49 Pageid#: 1 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA Harrisonburg Division CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU; COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS; THE PEOPLE OF …
Virginia Court of Appeals Upholds Lifetime Probation With Bar on Personal Internet Use in Response to Sex Offender’s Probation Violation by In an unpublished opinion issued on December 17, 2019, the Court of Appeals of Virginia upheld the probation conditions imposed on a sex offender for probation violations, including requiring …
Fourth Circuit: ADA Relief Claims Improperly Dismissed in Virginia by Mark Wilson by Mark Wilson On July 20, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reversed a lower court’s dismissal of a Virginia prisoner’s Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) claim stemming from the denial of a prison …
Fourth Circuit Holds Prisoner’s Indefinite Period of Solitary Confinement at Virginia Supermax May Amount to Atypical and Significant Hardship by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On July 10, 2020, the FourthCircuit Court of Appeals vacated a district court’s granting of summary judgment to Virginia Department of Corrections (VDOC) officials in …
Reyes v. Clarke, VA, Settlement, Solitary Confinement, 2021 Case 2:19-cv-00035-JPJ-PMS Document 164-1 Filed 01/15/21 Page 1 of 6 Pageid#: 1720 SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT AND RELEASE This Settlement Agreement and Release, dated as of January_15_, 2021, is entered into by the parties in Reyes v. Clarke et al., Case No. 2:19-cv-0035-JPJ-PMS, currently …
Urban Redo: Lorton, Virginia Prison Recreated as Liberty Village by Kevin Bliss by Kevin Bliss Developers in Fairfax County, Virginia, are remaking the Lorton Reformatory historical landmark into a suburban village. County officials are using the prime real estate just off I-95 with good roads to D.C. and a growing …
COVID-19 Hits Fairfax, Virginia Juvenile Detention Center by Kevin Bliss by Kevin Bliss An outbreak of COVID-19 began September 29, 2020, at the Juvenile Detention Center (JDC) in Fairfax County, Virginia, with eight staff and six juveniles testing positive over the next 10 days for the novel coronavirus that causes …
$40,000 Settlement for Corizon’s Breach of Contract by Corizon Health paid $40,000 to settle a lawsuit alleging it beached a contract with Nursefinders. The February 26, 2016, settlement resolved a lawsuit Nursefinders filed in a Virginia state court, but which was removed to a federal court, on March 20, 2015. …
Lee v. Virginia DOC, VA, Settlement Agreement, Solitary Confinement, 2020 Case 2:20-cv-00006-JPJ-PMS Document 81-2 Filed 11/12/20 Page 1 of 6 Pageid#: 662 Exhibit 2 Case 2:20-cv-00006-JPJ-PMS Document 81-2 Filed 11/12/20 Page 2 of 6 Pageid#: 663 SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT AND RELEASE This Settlement Agreement and Release, dated as of October 29, …
News in Brief by Alabama: The Birmingham News reported that an Alabama prison guard had been arrested for drug trafficking after a search of his vehicle when he arrived for work at the St. Clair County prison turned up 138 grams of methamphetamine and 16 grams of heroin. Ivan Caldwell, …
