VJC March 2026 DN-R Justice Matters Column

Romeo Perez is a formerly incarcerated individual who is a 
professional Certified Peer Support Specialist with United
Health. He serves as co-chair of the Valley Justice Coalition. 

Progress Worth Recognizing—and the Work Still Ahead

Conversations about criminal justice rarely make front-page headlines, but they matter deeply to the families, staff, and community members whose lives intersect with our local correctional system.

Over the past decade, we have seen meaningful progress in how we approach criminal justice. That progress deserves recognition.

Yet improvement in a justice system is never a finished project. As our community evolves, so too must the policies and practices that guide our institutions.

The Valley Justice Coalition, a Harrisonburg-based citizens group, supports the development of a system of justice that can serve as a model not only for the Commonwealth but for communities across the nation. Our goal is not to criticize for the sake of criticism, but to collaborate—to listen, to learn, and to advocate for policies that reflect both public safety and human dignity.

Over many years, coalition members have heard from individuals and families with loved ones incarcerated in the two facilities serving our region: the Rockingham-Harrisonburg Regional Jail(RHRJ) and the Middle River Regional Jail (MRRJ). Because these two facilities share a unique contractual relationship, it is especially important that their policies remain fair, transparent, and as consistent with each other as possible.

Several areas have emerged where thoughtful review could lead to meaningful improvements.

First, policies related to lockdown procedures, searches, and segregation deserve careful examination. Differences between the two facilities create confusion and in some cases unequal treatment. For example, RHRJ allows more out-of-cell time during the day, which supports mental health and basic human functioning. However, individuals placed in solitary confinement there are denied access to reading materials, while MRRJ provides this opportunity. Reviewing these practices could help ensure both facilities adopt the most humane and effective policies possible.

Second, concerns have been raised over the years regarding the quality and safety of food served at MRRJ. Nutrition is not a luxury but a basic human need and a critical component of health. A review of vendor standards and oversight procedures could address these concerns while strengthening confidence in the facility’s operations.

Third, we recognize positive development regarding jail visitation. At MRRJ, visits with loved ones have increased fourfold through the use of tablet-based communication technology, and RHRJ is exploring similar options. Expanding communication between incarcerated individuals and their families is an important step forward. Research consistently shows that maintaining family connections during incarceration improves outcomes after releaseand reduces recidivism. While technology offers helpful tools, we also strongly support maintaining opportunities for in-person visits, which remain essential for preserving meaningful  human relationships. Meanwhile, we question the need for residents at RHRJ to be handcuffed for visits with loved ones while separated by glass and concrete.

Fourth, the daily “keep fees” charged to incarcerated individuals place a significant burden on families who are often already struggling financially. When someone is transferred from RHRJ to MRRJ, that fee increases from $1 to $3 a day. For low-income families this can create real hardships and unintentionally deepen cycles of poverty.

Fifth, there is a need to examine costs associated with medical care, phone access, and commissary items. These services are necessary for health, communication, and daily living.Aligning these costs between facilities and keeping them as affordable as possible would promote fairness and consistency.

Sixth, we appreciate MRRJ’s policy allowing in-person visits by approved clergy in a setting similar to attorney visits. Faith-based support can provide guidance, hope, and stability for individuals navigating incarceration. As space and resources allow, expanding opportunities for faith-based programming could further strengthen the rehabilitative mission of these facilities.

Finally, families have expressed concerns about the transfer of personal property, medications, and other essential items when individuals move between facilities. Reviewing these policies could help reduce confusion and ensure smoother transitions.

None of these suggestions are meant as criticism of the many dedicated staff members working within our correctional facilities. Corrections officers, administrators, and staff perform demanding work under challenging circumstances. Rather, these recommendations reflect a belief that strong institutions are built through dialogue, transparency, and a shared willingness to improve.

The Valley Justice Coalition remains committed to working collaboratively with local leaders, jail administrators and members of the broader community to address the above concerns constructively.

We commend the progress that has been made. And we look forward to the continued work ahead.

Petitioning For A Model Criminal Justice System

If you are a Virginia resident, please add your name and zip code to the petition below  or feel free to print copies, gather signatures and mail them to VJC, P.O. Box 434 , Harrisonburg, VA 22803 by November 15.

When I was in college in the sixties, some fellow students and I made regular visits to the former jail at 60 Graham Street, which had a capacity of around 60 men and a small cell for several women. Our experiences with Sheriff Strawderman and his staff, and especially with those in his jail, forever changed my life.

Thirty years later, in 1995, our community opened a new jail at 25 South Liberty Street, designed for 250 inmates. But in less than three decades after it opened, the new facility had been double bunked to hold as many as 400, with up to an additional 200 housed at the Middle River Regional Jail in Verona.

While those numbers have leveled off since COVID, something about that dramatic increase just didn’t seem right to many of us, which led to the formation of the Valley Justice Coalition, a citizens group focused on alternatives to incarceration. 

We wondered why, with our local census numbers increasing only around 55% since 1965 (much of that due to JMU’s rapid growth), our jail numbers skyrocketed by over 600% during that period? Were we really seeing that much more crime? And are Americans in general so much more criminal than other industrialized nations in the world that have far, far lower rates of incarceration?

Much of that increase can be attributed to a rise in drug related sentences, which is why we have fully supported Commonwealth’s Attorney Marsha Garst’s efforts in establishing a Drug Court and a Day Reporting alternative to incarceration for those with substance use disorders. 

We also applaud Sheriff Bryan Hutcheson for supporting mental health services in jail and for providing educational tablets for inmates. The tablets offer music and other entertainment that can be accessed by individuals only after availing themselves of a set number of educational and self-improvement classes on these devices. With over 90% of the jail population being repeat offenders, the sheriff hopes, in the words of Marsha Garst, to operate with more of a greenhouse mentality rather than a warehouse mentality.

We were also pleased to collaborate with Delegate Tony Wilt in his championing legislation to create a Public Defender’s Office for our community last year, through a bill he co-sponsored with Delegate Sam Rasoul, a Democrat. Good representation in court for those unable to afford an attorney can result not only in more just sentences but also in less time and money spent in costly appeals.

In a recent Zoom conversation with Delegate Wilt and Virginia Department of Corrections Director Chadwick Dotson, we were able to share our concerns about the fact that the Virginia Parole Board, whose mission is “to grant parole or conditional release to those inmates whose release is compatible with public safety,” actually released only 30 persons in 2024, many of those due to serious health problems. We noted that for the first time ever, there are more aged and often ailing individuals eligible for geriatric release than for all other current categories combined, creating astronomical healthcare costs for taxpayers in the Commonwealth. And according to the Parole Board’s most recent report, it granted not even one release last month. Has our Department of Corrections failed to correct even a single one of the nearly 200 cases the Board reviewed in September?

We also recently had retired professor Howard Zehr as a guest at one of our recent VJC meetings, someone  known worldwide for his pioneering work in Restorative Justice alternatives to typically adversarial court processes. Our local Fairfield Center is ready and able to facilitate this kind of process, one in which offenders meet with their victims to work out plans for making satisfactory restitution to repair harms rather than simply being prescribed a punishment and denied the right--and the responsibility--to make things right.

None of these alternatives represent being “soft on crime,” but rather our becoming more “smart on crime,” and more effective in actually correcting wrongdoers, which is what a Department of Corrections should be all about.

So in the interest of promoting a model criminal justice system in the Commonwealth, the Valley Justice Coalition is launching a petition in support of policies we believe are in every citizen’s best interest, regardless of their political leanings, as follows:

We favor the creation of an ever more just and effective criminal justice system, one that supports:

• Rehabilitation over mere punishment.
• Restorative justice alternatives that give high priority to victims' needs for reparation and restitution by offenders.
• Supervised release for aging and thoroughly rehabilitated persons behind bars.

In the spirit of the prophet Micah, we believe we are all required to not only do justice, but  to love mercy and together walk humbly with our just and merciful God. 

Cruel And Unusual Temperatures In Our Prisons

Buckingham Correctional Center in Dilwyn was built to house
640 prisoners, but now has twice that number, and the oven-like
heat becomes almost unbearable in ever warmer summers.

Most folks my age grew up without air conditioning and with few fans to relieve discomfort brought on by warm summer weather.

Today we insist on year-round climate controlled comfort, and when our air conditioning unit on Hamlet Drive malfunctioned recently we soon contacted someone (referred to as a "comfort specialist") to fix the problem.

Millions of our fellow human beings around the world who live in ever warmer climates have no access to such luxury.

This is also true of an estimated 25% of prisoners in Virginia confined in older, crowded warehouse-like facilities with no air conditioning, along with many of the 2.2 million people living in over 6,000 jail and prison facilities elsewhere in the United States. Lack of available funding is always cited as the reason, but increased medical costs and greater unrest resulting from severe heat are causing concern among many lawmakers and prison officials.

Some prisons have been reported to offer extra ice packs and cold water to help alleviate the stress, but elevated temperatures can make living conditions almost unbearable, and getting a normal night's sleep can be a serious problem. And once room temperatures become greater than normal body temperature, more fans can actually make the stress on the heart worse, resulting in heat strokes and heart attacks that can prove to be fatal. 

The Vera Institute of Justice recently reported the following:

Temperatures inside jails and prisons can often exceed 100 degrees. The heat index—a measure of how hot it really feels when humidity is factored in with the temperature—can reach as high as 150 degrees. The consequences of these heat waves can be severe. A Columbia Law School climate study estimated that most of those incarcerated did not have air conditioning in their units. Exposure to high heat alone can lead to increases in aggression, suicide, poor cognitive functioning, and overall poor mental health. What’s more, over 20 percent of people incarcerated in U.S. prisons have a mental illness, and an aging prison population means that many individuals are suffering from medical conditions like high blood pressure. Psychotropic drugs and high blood pressure medications can both disrupt the body's ability to regulate heat and cool itself down—meaning that many people in prison face higher risk of overheating.

An Appeal To The Middle River Regional Jail Authority Board February 2, 2021

This excellent presentation was made at the meeting of the MRRJ Board (representing five jurisdictions--Augusta and Rockingham Counties  and the cities of Harrisonburg, Waynesboro and Staunton) regarding a possible $40,000,000 jail renovation and expansion. Posted here by permission.

I'm Ruth Stoltzfus Jost, with Valley Justice Coalition in Harrisonburg.

Thank you for the work you do to meet the needs of incarcerated persons in your care. You've spent many hours over many months.

However, you are public officials requesting to spend public money from five jurisdictions, none of which has yet given the taxpaying public a broad opportunity to be heard on whether or how to spend their money to expand the jail.

Some of the projected costs represent capital expenditures and updates to serve needs for persons presently incarcerated.

But most of the cost is to expand the capacity of the jail, to service those costs over time, and to operate a facility with many more beds. This will lock us into another cycle of increasing incarceration.

Your five communities are well aware that these recommendations come from an architectural firm, which has an obvious interest in expansion of the jail.  This doesn't feel right to a lot of people.

Every one of these jurisdictions Is part of a community criminal justice board which is required by law to adopt a plan for reducing incarceration. That plan is to be updated every two years.  I cannot speak for other jurisdictions, but Harrisonburg-Rockingham has not adopted a plan showing how it will reduce the rate of incarceration.  And it has surely not updated any such plan in the last two years.

It is as if we have a constantly flooding basement and have just commissioned an expert on how to better patch and fortify against our constant influx of water. But we have failed to look outside at what may be causing this unusual flood. 

And it is unusual.  We are incarcerating people at twice the national rate even though Virginia is a low crime state and we are a low crime area of Virginia.  And we aren't "badder" than other people.

Citizens and taxpayers question this uncontrolled spiral of ever more incarceration and ever more jail construction. We support our new efforts to improve local law enforcement, drug and mental health treatment, and recent innovative programs to actually divert people from the criminal justice system entirely.  These efforts, scaled up, improved, and joined with new initiatives, show promise and need a few years to reduce our jail numbers.

So now that you have seen the experts' recommendation on the costs of expansion I urge you before you make a request of these communities to take the next step: 

Before acting, take ten months to let these five communities get expert analysis of another kind:  in depth evaluation of which practices and policies in each community are causing our over-incarceration and how to change them.  AND an in-depth community listening process for citizens and taxpayers to be heard on what they want and how to build on positive, community-based alternatives to the endless cycle we are currently in. 

That way, the request you make of them will be one that can be respected -- informed by a process of solid expert information and on genuinely hearing the priorities of the public you serve.

Thank you.

Here's a link to a petition to sign https://www.change.org/p/oppose-the-expansion-at-middle-river-regional-jail?recruiter=764858728&recruited_by_id=44954200-872d-11e7-b902-7f1a4337f57a&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=petition_dashboard

Over 1500 Have Signed A Petition Against MRRJ Expansion--Update On What You Can Do Today

The Middle River Regional Authority has delayed its final decision about asking the state for money for jail expansion.

Here's the link to the petition, which reads as follows:

"We, as citizens of Rockingham and Augusta Counties and the cities of Harrisonburg, Staunton and Waynesboro, oppose spending millions to build more jail space at Middle River Regional Jail and propose that these dollars be invested in creating community based programs and policies proven to reduce incarceration."

Here's a link to the MRRJ website.

Call to Action from Communities Against Middle River Jail Expansion

Send a comment to the Harrisonburg City Council, whose members have already expressed opposition

Email  Staunton City Council or leave a voicemail at 540-332-3810  TODAY!  
Send a comment TODAY to the Waynesboro City Council

Email the Rockingham County Board of Supervisors  TODAY!  
Email the Augusta County Board of Supervisors TODAY!

Rather than promoting spending millions on jail expansion, what I wish we could hear from Superintendent Newton and others on the MRRJ Regional Board would be something like, "Please stop sending us ever more people who are not a danger to the community but whose primary needs are for addiction and mental health treatment. Jails and prisons are not good places to offer services best provided in your community. And don't send us more people who can do well in the kinds of work release programs we've been offering successfully for years without adding any significant danger to the community. Set up more of your own systems for supervised work release to enable ever more non-violent offenders to remain employed while they await trial and/or who are having to make child support payments and pay off their court fees and fines."  - Harvey Yoder

This post was updated February 9, 2021.

Guest Post: Look Before You Leap On A Proposed Middle River Regional Jail Expansion

This important piece by Ruth Stoltzfus Jost is to appear in the Daily News-Record this week.

Our jail is full. Again. In 2015 we paid $20 million to join Middle River Regional Jail. Since 1994 when our Harrisonburg jail was built our community population has not quite doubled -- but we are jailing five times as many people.

On February 2 the Middle River Regional Jail Authority, including our city and county officials, will be considering jail upgrades and expansion. Options range from $40 - $68 million for construction, divided among 5 jurisdictions. Add $40,000 per inmate per year ongoing costs. Taxpayers beware!

That’s not counting the real costs to our community. The great majority of persons in jail are charged or convicted of non-violent offenses. Many have been held pretrial for months. Incarceration disrupts tax-generating employment, secure housing, child support payments, and stable family relations.

What can we do instead? Virtually every community in the country is struggling with this dilemma.

There is a roadmap to easier, cheaper, and more just solutions. Prison Policy Initiative has produced a report "Does our County really need a bigger jail? A guide for avoiding unnecessary jail expansion". https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/jailexpansion.html

The guide lists basic questions that local decision-makers ask and lays out detailed "best practices" for reducing jail overcrowding. Are we holding too many people in jail pretrial? Are we making arrests when we could issue citations to appear in court? Are we under-utilizing personal recognizance or unsecured bonds to release non-dangerous persons before a court hearing? Are we incarcerating people because they cannot afford to pay fines and fees when we could use community service in lieu of payment or exemption waivers for poor defendants? Do we weigh an individual's ability to pay when imposing fees and fines? Are we over- incarcerating people convicted of misdemeanors and low-level offenses?

These and other questions are followed with details about best practices that work: reforming pretrial detention, changing how we issue fees and fines, ensuring people with mental health and substance use disorders are treated in the community not incarcerated, creating alternatives to incarceration for people convicted of misdemeanors and low-level offenses, ensuring that we don't use jail for technical violations of probation and parole.

With the hiring last year of our Criminal Justice Planner, Harrisonburg and Rockingham are finally poised to gather our data about current practices, develop new strategies, and secure grants (or leverage funds) to:

1. Build on our current investments in comprehensive drug treatment facilities, mental health, employment, and other programs, and use them to a) divert non-violent persons from the criminal justice system before even charging them and b) divert non-violent persons instead of revoking probation and reincarcerating them.

2. Avoid incarcerating persons before trial unless they are an immediate danger to the public.

3. Avoid incarcerating the many non-violent offenders who can safely work and live at home with electronic home monitoring.

Tell your city and county representatives we need to use less expensive, more effective proven alternatives before we spend millions to expand our jail.

Here's a link to a petition to sign urging the cities of Staunton, Waynesboro and Harrisonburg and the Counties of Augusta snd Rockingham to consider alternatives to this proposed multimillion dollar expansion.

An Urgent Petition To Sign and Share

We need 1000 signatures before the MRRJ Regional Authority meets February 2.

We, as citizens of Rockingham and Augusta Counties and the cities of Harrisonburg, Staunton and Waynesboro, oppose spending millions to build more jail space at Middle River Regional Jail to incarcerate predominantly non-violent offenders.

We  support proven alternative strategies that strengthen families and communities and significantly reduce jail populations, such as:   

1.  Investing in comprehensive drug treatment facilities and mental health, employment, and other programs that 

     a) divert non-violent persons from the criminal justice system, and 

     b) divert non-violent probation violators instead of reincarcerating them.

2.  Having pre-trial persons incarcerated only if they are an immediate danger to the public.

3.  Having non-violent offenders who can safely work and live at home on electronic home monitoring.

Here's the link: https://www.change.org/p/oppose-the-expansion-at-middle-river-regional-jail?recruiter=764858728&recruited_by_id=44954200-872d-11e7-b902-7f1a4337f57a&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=petition_dashboard

It Takes A Whole Community To Create A Model Criminal Justice System

Current proposals for expansion would require the investment
of millions by each of the cities of Harrisonburg, Staunton and
Waynesboro as well as by Rockingham and Augusta Counties. 

The following Open Forum piece was published in today's Daily News-Record:

Five years ago our locality signed a $21.5 million contract allowing us to house some of our local inmates at the Middle River Regional Jail (MRRJ) in Augusta County. 

Now both jails are overcrowded, largely because the Department of Corrections (due to COVID risks) has delayed receiving some 300 inmates from here waiting to be moved to DOC facilities. So the MRRJ Authority Board, which includes six local representatives, is now considering a multi-million dollar expansion of MRRJ at a time when both state and local budgets are stretched to the limit.

This is a critical time to consider proven alternatives to incarceration for the vast majority of our offenders who are not a physical danger to our community. We already have a Day Reporting Program and Drug Court in place, and could implement a comparable mental health court, eliminate cash bail for most people awaiting trial, and have many more inmates on electronic monitoring devices while working to support their families and pay off their fines and fees.

In 1994 the Virginia General Assembly mandated local jurisdictions like ours to form advisory Community Criminal Justice Boards (CCJB) made up of representative attorneys, judges, law enforcement officials, school superintendents and other local agencies and governing bodies. Thus local communities are given more say in effectively dealing with crime, and are charged with these responsibilities:

1. Advise on the development and operation of local pretrial services and community-based probation services for use by courts in diverting offenders from incarceration;

2. Assist community agencies and organizations in establishing and modifying programs and services for defendants and offenders on the basis of an objective assessment of the community's needs and resources;

3. Evaluate and monitor community programs and pretrial and local community-based probation services and facilities to determine their impact on offenders;

4. Develop and amend a criminal justice plan in accordance with guidelines and standards set forth by the Department and oversee the development and amendment of the community-based corrections plan as required by § 53.1-82.1 for approval by participating local governing bodies;

5. Review the submission of all criminal justice grants regardless of the source of funding;

6. Facilitate local involvement and flexibility in responding to the problem of crime in their communities; 

7. Do all things necessary to carry out the responsibilities expressly given in this article.

We are blessed to have a high level of experience and expertise in our CCJB, which meets quarterly and is co-chaired by City Council member Chris Jones and Board of Supervisor chair Rick Chandler. This group, like its neighboring Augusta County-based CCJB, could be soliciting the community’s help in developing concrete proposals for reducing incarceration costs and numbers while maintaining a high level of public safety and developing a high level of citizen responsibility.

Together we can find ways of reallocating resources and expanding drug treatment programs and services. Our community needs alternatives to confining ever more people in expensive steel cages--inconveniently located in a neighboring county.

Jail Uses Restraint Chair For Suicidal Inmates

Charged with being drunk in public, a young woman was recently kept in a restraint chair for hours in the holding unit of our local jail. This was because she was in a highly confused and suicidal state after having been sexually assaulted while allegedly under the influence of a date rape drug.

In spite of her repeated pleas to be able to go to the bathroom and to have the straps on her arms and legs adjusted due to her severe discomfort, the officers present kept her in the chair, following jail protocol.

This led me to submit another FOIA request to Sheriff Hutcheson regarding the frequency of the use of the restraint chair. As always, the sheriff's response, via one of his officers, was professional and timely, a summary of which follows:

Use of Restraint Chair, January 1 to June 30, 2020

The restraint chair was used a total of 57 times. Thirty-one of these were for individuals who were highly combative (often under the influence of a mind-altering drug) and who were danger to others. The other twenty-six times were for "medical reasons," cases where people were deemed be in danger to themselves, as in the incident above.

The total number of hours the restraint chair was used during this six-month period was 231.5 hours, with 4.06 hours being the average length of use. The longest time was 8 hours and the shortest a mere ten minutes.

I have great respect for the sheriff, and have had numerous conversations with him about these and other concerns. My appeal has been that the jail, through its contract with our local Community Services Board, provide a trained person to be a calming and therapeutic presence fo an inmate who is in a delusional or highly depressed state. I've also suggested that a group of local mental health counselors be on call on a volunteer basis for such situations.

In a community of caring people and one that is rich in available resources, we should be able to come up with humane ways of responding to people in severe emotional distress.

DNR Open Forum: A Write-in For Lady Justice?

A statue of Lady Justice towers high above
our local court house.

“Love compels us to respectfully and humbly show all high officials what the Word of God commands them, how they should rightfully execute their office… to punish the transgressors and protect the good; to judge rightly between a man and his fellows; todo justice to the widows and orphans and to the poor… to the benefit of the common people.”  

 - Menno Simons

These words from a 16th century reformer are relevant today as we consider how to best use our influence for the common good. Voting as we know it was not an option then, but Simons made numerous appeals to those in positions of power.

Such appeals may have more impact than merely casting a ballot, especially when some of the more important posts in our local fall election—that of the sheriff and the commonwealth’s attorney—are uncontested. This makes me wish that in such cases one could assign a rating expressing one’s degree of approval of a candidate’s performance. 

In the case of Sheriff Hutcheson and Commonwealth’s Attorney Marsha Garst, one might choose a positive rating of, say, 85%, given their dedication, integrity and hard work on behalf of our community. 

Under the sheriff’s watch we’ve gained a full time mental health worker and a half time chaplain at the jail, a special pod for people with mental illnesses, and a pilot plan for giving inmates access to electronic tablets to use for educational purposes. On the other hand, I would love to see him do away with the arbitrary keep fee charged to inmate families and to consider offering drug rehab pods as numerous other jails have done.

As a result of Garst’s efforts, we have been blessed with having successful Drug Court and Day Reporting programs as alternatives to incarceration, with having her advocate for more available housing for ex-offenders, and with her speaking in favor of a “greenhouse mentality over a warehouse mentality” when dealing with offenders.

On the other hand, I would love to see her assess the legality of jail keep fees in light of the Virginia Constitution’s separation of powers provision and the U.S. Constitution’s “excessive fines” clause (as in exceeding what a duly authorized court has determined to be an appropriate punishment), as well as advocating for increased support of restorative justice and diversion programs to help reduce rising incarceration numbers. Also to increase the number of non-violent offenders eligible for bail while awaiting trial.

I recently sent some 100 emails to friends and acquaintances asking how (or whether) they plan to cast their ballot in the case of uncontested seats. Some plan to vote for whoever is the candidate, others plan to leave a blank in such cases, others will write in a name or a comment.

Which makes me wish we could simply give an approval rating. 

Meanwhile, with all due respect, I may simply choose Lady Justice, the symbol that towers high above our local court house.

Here's a link to comments I got from my recent informal survey on votinghttps://harvyoder.blogspot.com/2019/10/results-of-informal-survey-on-how-or.html

Some Valley Justice Coalition Accomplishments

VJC hosts a public meeting via Zoom on the first Monday
noon of each month, and an action meeting on the third Monday. 

Most of the following developments are the result of collaboration among many people and organizations, but the changes below are among those either initiated by and/or substantially supported by members of this group of concerned citizens that has been meeting regularly since 2014:

1. Tireless (and successful) efforts to prevent building a new jail in our community.

2. The long inactive Community Criminal Justice Board becoming a group that meets quarterly, and is now open to public input.

3. The CCJB appointing an Alternatives Committee which included members of the VJC and chaired by Judge John Paul, which has made significant proposals for reform.

4. Initiating ongoing conversation about need for better mental health services in the jail, and eventually resulting in having the Community Services Board provide funding for a half-time, then a full-time, counselor.

5. Drug Court, which according to the DNR, began as “several community leaders raised concerns about the growing inmate population…” (DNR, 12/10/18)

6. A Day Reporting program at Gemeinschaft Home.

7. Increased citizen involvement in the Reentry Council and its Action Committee and subcommittees.

8. A survey done of over 80 members of inmate families to learn more about their concerns about jail policies. https://harvyoder.blogspot.com/2017/11/the-survey-says-members-86-inmate.html

9. 'WITH' hospitality center at RISE church for visiting family members and loved ones waiting to see inmates at jail.

10. Having significant influence both in the formation of Faith in Action and in its choice of criminal justice reform as its 2018 focus. 

11. Significant collaboration with Faith in Action in the wording and implementation of specific objectives in their campaign.

12. Sheriff becoming more aware of, and sensitive to, community concerns about jail policies, resulting in his taking initiative in improving those policies, including the remarkable step of providing educational tablets for a pod of inmates on a trial basis.

13. A October 15 community forum led by Board of Supervisor William Kyger and attended by some 300 people, on the issue of considering hiring a community justice planner. This meeting would not have happened without the influence of VJC and FIA.

14. Numerous op ed pieces and letters to the editor by members of VJC on local criminal justice reforms.

15. Having criminal justice reform advocate Nancy Insco added to the official membership of the CCJB.

16. Advocating for accessibility and submitting data requests for incorporation in the new data system being acquired through a cooperative effort by Harrisonburg, Rockingham County and James Madison University. 

17. Commonwealth's Attorney Marsha Garst stating she wants to change from a "warehouse mentality to a greenhouse mentality.” (April 27, 2017, in the the minutes of the meeting of the State Drug Treatment Court Advisory Committee.)

18. With James Madison University's Mahatma Gandhi Center, initiating and planning a December 4, 2018, meeting of community leaders with Virginia's Secretary of Public Safety Brian Moran, along with Parole Board Chair Adrianne Bennett, for the purpose of promoting parole reform, followed by a public meeting at JMU.

https://www.vjcharrisonburg.org/

Prisoner Rights And Jail House Wrongs

By law, the following rights are guaranteed for those incarcerated:

Cruel and Unusual Punishments - Every inmate has the right to be free under the Eighth Amendment from inhumane treatment or anything that could be considered "cruel and unusual" punishment. Note: Unfortunately, the Eighth Amendment does not clearly define what "cruel and unusual" punishment includes, meaning much of the definition has derived from case law. Generally speaking, any punishment that is considered inhumane treatment, like torture or abuse, or a violation of a person's basic dignity may be considered cruel and unusual within the discretion of the court.

Sexual Harassment or Sex Crimes - Inmates have a right to be free from sexual harassment or sex crimes, like being raped or molested while in custody. This applies to crimes or harassment from both inmates and prison personnel.

Right to Complain About Prison Conditions and Access to the Courts - Inmates have the right both to complain about prison conditions and to voice their concerns to prison officials and the courts.

Disabled Prisoners - Inmates with disabilities are entitled to certain reasonable accommodations under the American with Disabilities Act to ensure they receive the same access to prison facilities as those who are not disabled.

Medical and Mental Health Care - Prisoners are entitled to receive medical care and mental health treatment. These treatments are only required to be "adequate," not the best available or even the standard treatment for those outside of incarceration.

First Amendment Rights - Inmates retain basic First Amendment rights (i.e., free speech and religion) to the extent that the exercise of those rights does not interfere with their status as inmates.

Discrimination - Inmates have the right to be free from discrimination while imprisoned. This includes racial segregation, disparate treatment based on ethnicity or religion, preferences based on age, etc,.

In practice, the following are some of the wrongs routinely experienced by those behind bars:

1. Most do not have adequate access to the law library or legal materials and are allowed only one year to appeal a case.

2. Work opportunities are limited for the many inmates who would like a job, and wages for those who work average less than $1 an hour.

3. Many jails and prisons do not provide needed educational or rehabilitation programs.

4. Most provide inferior and inadequate dental, medical and mental health care. 

5. Most meals meet only minimal nutritional standards and are nutritionally less than adequate for inmates who work out or are otherwise physically active. 

6. A large number of people in jails are awaiting their trials and have not been convicted of a crime. Unable to make bail, they are housed with convicted and sometimes dangerous felons. 

7. Most prisons require inmates to live in cells the size of an average bathroom, and some have more than two inmates per cell.

8. Most prison cells and dormitories do not have call boxes (intercoms) or other communication device inmates could use to contact someone if and when emergency assistance is needed.

9. Officers often do not make regular bed checks as required, and are mostly seen on the floor only during designated counts. 

10. As a matter of health and human rights, all correctional facilities without good natural ventilation  and exhaust fans should have operational air-conditioning units installed to protect those inside from the danger of excessive heat.

11. Drinking water may not always be checked regularly to ensure it is safe and healthy.

12. Most jails charge inmates a keep fee for their incarceration in addition to the punishment imposed by the court. This should be declared illegal.

13. Phone services and commissary items are typically overpriced and their costs regularly increase even though prison wages remain flat.

Note: Most of the above items are reported by prisoners with whom I am in contact.

HARD TIME VIRGINIA, Vol. 4, No. 3 (an occasional newsletter by and for prisoners)

Both public and inmate safety
are important.

Report of a Suicide at Augusta Correctional Center

"Maxwell Adams took his life Thursday, March 14th, 2019 in the Augusta Correctional Center’s isolation/segregation unit. Earlier that evening, according to word among the inmate population, he told the authorities that if they did not allow him to call his mother that he was going to kill himself. So today another mother will bury her child…

   "…In the thirty-eight years of my incarceration. I have witnessed men kill one another, rape one another, beat one another and cry for help from within the darkness as their mental health eroded away under peer pressure and the fear of dying alone in prison. But the worst of all is when they kill themselves out of feeling abandoned or rejected by family, friends and peers… 

   "It is still everyone's responsibility to help others to see the value of living regardless of the struggle that an incarcerated lifestyle may bring. I know that God did not place these burdens upon us without a means of escape or help... The agony of grief in a suicidal person often goes overlooked until the coroner is notified to pick up the body."

- by an anonymous fellow prisoner

Note:  A free video called "Suicide is Forever" is now available in the JPay Media Store.

February Parole Numbers Encouraging, March's Not So Much

The Parole Board granted release to over 40 men in February--no females, and three being geriatric. In March, however, only seven prisoners, all male, were granted regular parole release.           There were no grants last month for those incarcerated for a first offense, in spite of their good behavior over decades of time.

   In January there were 20 grants but only 6 were first time grants. Four were geriatric, and none were female.

- from the Virginia Parole Board website

Miscellaneous Laments and Complaints From Inside

- One inmate at Sussex II State Prison reports that sewage has been backing up into some housing units there for some time.

- A Western District of Virginia federal grand jury recently indicted two former Rockbridge County Regional Jail (RCRJ) officials on charges related to civil rights violations and falsifying documents to obstruct justice. Also, the superintendent of the Middle River Regional Jail has been dismissed for alleged misconduct and is under investigation.

- According to a VAPAC (Virginia Prisons Accountability Committee) Facebook post, a resident at Buckingham waited for two years to get a tooth pulled, then had the wrong one removed.

- From an inmate: “A man here my housing unit is over 80 years old and is on the third floor. He has to walk three flights of stairs to and from chow three times a day and to any other places for medical or religious programs. He was complaining to me the other day about his knee bothering him."

Prison Costs Continue to Rise

For the fiscal year ended June 30, 2018, the General Assembly appropriated the Department of Corrections (DOC) an adjusted operating budget of $1,257,128,812. The DOC expended $1,248,956,790; the major portion of these expenditures were earmarked for salaries and benefits. The Department operated 26 Major Institutions, 8 Field Units, 5 Work Centers, 2 Detention Centers, 2 Diversion Centers, and one Detention/Diversion Center in which 28,889 offenders * were housed. In addition, the Department operated 43 Probation & Parole District Offices. (For FY 2018, the number of offenders under community-based supervision averaged 65,919 as compared to an FY 2017 average of 63,983, a 3.03% increase over last fiscal year.)

   On average 28,889 offenders were housed in facilities operated by DOC during FY 2018. Excluded from that statistic were 1,555 DOC inmates housed in a Department of Corrections owned prison in Lawrenceville, Virginia that is privately operated.

  The Department-wide per capita cost of housing offenders was $31,240 in FY 2018, up 4.25% above FY 2017.

On a per capita basis, in FY 2018 DOC medical expenditures increased 10.3% above that of FY 2017. The increase is largely attributed to higher medical costs, greater patient acuity, and the creation of additional infirmary beds.

- information sent by a Virginia inmate

Inmate Population - Demographics*

GENDER: 8.1% Female; 91.9% Male

RACE/ETHNICITY: Black 56.3%; Other 0.6%; White 43%

AGE:

Under 18: 0.0%

18-24: 7.5%

25-34: 31.6%

35-44: 28.1%

45-54: 19.7%

55-59: 6.7%

60-64: 3.7%

65+: 2.7%

*This demographic data represents the DOC inmate population as of December 31,.2017, the most recent date available. DOC inmates incarcerated in local jails are included in this data, out-of-state inmates are excluded.1/26/19

INMATE POPULATION - OFFENSE DATA*

14.6% Robbery

12.4% Larceny/Fraud

10.9% Assault 

10.3% Drug Sales

10.3% Rape/Sexual Assault

7.8% Homicide-1st Degree

7.7% Burglary/B&E

6.3% Abduction

4.5% Not Yet Reported

4.2% Drug Possession

2.3% Homicide-2nd Degree

1.8% Sex Offense

1.8% Weapons

1.4% Capital Murder

1.3% Manslaughter

1.0% DUI

0.8% Habitual Offender

0.4% Arson

0.1% Conspiracy

0.1% Other Non-Violent

This offense data represents the DOC inmate population as of December 31, 2017, the most recent data available. This data includes DOC inmates incarcerated in local jails; however, out-of-state inmates are not included. Inmates convicted of multiple offenses are represented here by their most serious offense. For example, a drug trafficker who raped and murdered someone would be represented in the murder category. In regards to 'not reported' offenses, this data represents the percentage of inmates whose actual committing offense had not been reported. Over time this information is updated for that particular population.

                        - information provided by a Virginia inmate

**************************************

Awl

Minor Junior Smith, a blind poet and author at Deerfield Correctional Center, is 
still waiting for his well-deserved parole release.

An awl is a tool for piercing holes, particularly in leather. It is a simple metal shaft, with a knob of wood for a handle, polished by its fit in the sinewy cradle of a leather worker's palm.

   It is likely the tool with which Louis Braille blinded himself as a three-year-old child in France, in an accident in his father's saddle making shop in the early nineteenth century.* Braille later invented a system of raised dots as a means of reading and writing for the blind. 

   We don't know whether he was in the shop with his father or alone, whether it was a damp and rainy day, or whether the sun shone and brought to life the floating dust that always hung in the workshop air.

   Maybe it was just a little poke in the eye with this small tool, a small slip of the hand, a small injury, a little fumble that resulted in his blindness.

   This was decades before general anesthesia or antiseptics. Perhaps the doctor they rushed him to believed n the value of "laudable pus" in a wound. I don't want to picture it.

   And as a child in his father's saddle-making shop, did Louis Braille already know the names of the parts of a saddle: pummel, stirrup, tree? Did he know the smell and feel of each grade of leather? 

   Of all the tools, punch and pincers, gauge and groover, chisel and awl, he chose awl. Likely the last thing he saw, a shine of metal galloping toward his eye. Was it an accident that the tool I used at the blind school in Staunton, Virginia, for pressing hand-punched Braille dots was like a blunt, very small awl?

* Braille's injured eye developed an infection that spread to his other eye, eventually causing him to be totally blind. At first he didn't realize he had lost his sight, and kept asking why it was always so dark.

On this Easter day, here's a link to a blog post on light and darkness:

https://harvyoder.blogspot.com/2011/04/burst-of-easter-light.html

How Members Of A Small Citizens Group Have Impacted Our Local Criminal Justice System

(update) VJC has an open meeting on the first Monday noon
of each month, and a working group meeting on the third Monday noon.

Most of the following developments are the result of collaboration among many people and organizations, but the changes below are among those either initiated by and/or substantially supported by members of Valley Justice Coalition, a group of concerned citizens that has been meeting regularly since 2014:

1. Tireless (and successful) efforts to promote alternatives to building a new jail.

2. The long inactive Community Criminal Justice Board becoming a group that meets quarterly, and is now open to public input.

3. The CCJB appointing an Alternatives Committee which included members of the VJC and chaired by Judge John Paul, which has made significant proposals for reform.

4. Initiating ongoing conversation about need for better mental health services in the jail, and eventually resulting in having the Community Services Board provide funding for a half-time, then a full-time, counselor.

5. Drug Court, which according to the DNR, began as “several community leaders raised concerns about the growing inmate population…” (DNR, 12/10/18)

6. A Day Reporting program at Gemeinschaft Home.

7. Increased citizen involvement in the Reentry Council and its Action Committee and subcommittees.

8. A survey done of over 80 members of inmate families to learn more about their concerns about jail policies.

9. 'WITH' hospitality center at RISE church for visiting family members and loved ones waiting to see inmates at jail.

10. Having significant influence both in the formation of Faith in Action and in its choice of criminal justice reform as its 2018 focus. 
11. Significant collaboration with FIA in the wording and implementation of specific objectives in their campaign.

12. Sheriff becoming more aware of, and sensitive to, community concerns about jail policies, resulting in his taking initiative in improving those policies, including the remarkable step of providing educational tablets for inmates.

13. A October 15 community forum led by Board of Supervisor William Kyger and attended by some 300 people, on the issue of considering hiring a community justice planner. This meeting would not have happened without the influence of VJC and FIA.

14. Numerous op ed pieces and letters to the editor by members of VJC on local criminal justice reforms.

15. Having criminal justice reform advocate Nancy Insco and Probation and Parole head Joshua Lutz of the Reentry Council added to the membership of the CCJB.

16. Advocating for accessibility and submitting data requests for incorporation in the new data system being acquired through a cooperative effort by Harrisonburg, Rockingham County and James Madison University. 

17. Commonwealth's Attorney Marsha Garst stating she wants to change “the warehouse mentality to a greenhouse mentality.” (in the the minutes of the meeting of the State Drug Treatment Court Advisory Committee.)
18. With James Madison University's Mahatma Gandhi Center, initiating and planning a December 4 meeting of community leaders with Virginia's Secretary of Public Safety Brian Moran, along with Parole Board Chair Adrianne Bennett, for the purpose of promoting parole reform, followed by a public meeting at JMU.

Addendum 12/1/24

19. Played a significant role in having Delegate Tony Wilt co-sponsor legislation to have our community finally having a state-funded Public Defender office, a dream which became a reality in January of 2025.

Addendum 1/1/25

20. Arranged for a monthly VJC Justice Matters column to be published by the Daily News-Record on the last Friday of each month.

Addendum 7/7/25

21. Launch of a court observation program in collaboration with local citizen volunteers and with students from local universities starting in September 2025.

Anyone interested in local reforms such as the above are welcome to take part in VJC's second and fourth Monday conversation and strategy sessions. https://www.vjcharrisonburg.org/