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| Secretary of Public Safety Brian Moran |
This just in from:
Carla Peterson
Office Of The Governor
Carla Peterson
Director, Virginia CURE
P.O Box 2310
P.O Box 2310
Vienna , VA
tel:703-272-3624
email: carla4vacure@gmail.com
tel:703-272-3624
email: carla4vacure@gmail.com
Office Of The Governor
Patrick Henry Building,
Dear Governor Ralph Northam:
We understand that Governor Andrew Cuomo and Governor Gavin Newsome among others in other states are considering using emergency powers to reduce prison crowding and to mitigate the spread of diseases. We urge you do likewise to save lives.
We request that you consider immediately:
1) Release all medically fragile adults and adults over the age of 60 to parole supervision. Jails and prisons house many people with chronic illnesses and complex medical needs, who are more vulnerable to becoming seriously ill and requiring more medical care with COVID-19. And the growing number of older adults in prisons are at higher risk for serious complications from a viral infection like COVID-19. Releasing these vulnerable groups from prison and jail will reduce the need to provide complex medical care or transfers to hospitals when staff will be stretched thin. To those who do not have families or others that can offer housing, they should be released to re-entry facilities.
2) Release all people who have an anticipated release date in 2020 and 2021 to parole supervision. People who have been sentenced to brief sentences and who would be released soon should be released immediately. This will limit overcrowding and free up beds in facilities that will be needed to care for the sick. These people are overwhelmingly in low-level security.
3) Expedite review processes for people already found suitable for release. For all people who have been found suitable for parole by the Board of Parole Hearings, we ask that you expedite the review process and release these parole candidates. We ask that your office also direct increased resources to addressing the proposed release process and grant all worthy applications expeditiously.
4) Immediately suspend all unnecessary parole meetings. People deemed “low risk” should not be required to spend hours traveling to and from, particularly on public transportation, and waiting in administrative buildings for brief meetings with their parole officers. As many people as possible should be allowed to check in by telephone. Further, people on parole who have been under supervision for three years or longer and have not had an arrest within the last 12 months should be discharged from supervision.
5) Eliminate parole revocations for technical violations. Parole officers and others should cease seeking warrants for behaviors that, for people not on parole would not warrant incarceration. Reducing these unnecessary incarcerations would reduce the risk of transmitting a virus between the facilities -- jails and prisons -- and the community.
6) Lift all fees for calls to family members. As VDOC has limited visits to people who are incarcerated, it is critical that people who are incarcerated be able to communicate with their family members and loved ones. All phone calls made by those who are incarcerated to their family members and loved ones should be made free during such time as family visits are limited.
7) Insist that VDOC adequately address how they will care for people who are incarcerated. In addition to taking steps to immediately address overcrowding, all people who remain in custody should be cared for. To the extent that if this means that VDOC will do widespread lockdowns or isolating people without care, this is both cruel and inadequate. At the very minimum, all people who are incarcerated must have access to hand sanitizer which should be made widely available and possession of hand sanitizer should be allowed. Appropriate medications and treatment should be available to all without cost. People who are sick should be cared for by appropriate medical staff.
Governor, we know you take seriously your duty to protect the lives of people living and working in VDOC prisons. As you know, the health, well-being and the lives of these people are in your hands. We urge you to take immediate and decisive action now to save lives. We will support you in taking the necessary, actions now to protect the health of every Virginian, including the most vulnerable.
If other states can consider doing it, so can Virginia.
Sincerely,
John Horejsi, Coordinator jhorejsi@cox.net
Social Action Linking Together (SALT)
9610 Counselor Drive
Vienna, VA 22181
cc: Brian Moran
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Here's a response from Secretary Moran's office:
On Behalf Of Brian Moran
Sent: Friday, March 20, 2020 4:22 PM
To: jhorejsi <jhorejsi@cox.net>
Subject: Re: VDOC Message to Governor Ralph Northam:
Good afternoon,
Thank you for reaching out; we are actively engaging with stakeholders on these issues. Our Public Safety and Homeland Security team has spoken with local law-enforcement officers, Commonwealth's attorneys, and sheriffs to discuss the current state of emergency and to hear from teams on the ground. As I am sure you are aware, decisions are being made in real time and we are working quickly to develop strategies to address the situation.
The Virginia Department of Corrections (VADOC) has closed down all in-person visitation to state correctional facilities and is complying with CDC guidelines related to COVID-19. VADOC has also suspended all transfers from local and regional jails for 30 days following the Governor's Emergency Declaration on March 12th to limit potential exposure to the virus. We are doing everything we can to ensure the health and safety of our VADOC employees and residents of our facilities. VADOC, in partnership with Assisting Families of Inmates (AFOI) and JPay, is supporting video visitation and additional phone calls so residents may communicate regularly with family and friends.
As a reminder, local and regional jails are not managed by the state. Local authorities may be able to provide more specific information about local and regional jail facilities and their response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Yesterday, the Governor issued additional guidance regarding local and state public safety agencies, that press release may be found here.
Please direct further correspondence to my policy advisor, Jacquelyn Katuin (jacquelyn.katuin@governor.virginia.gov) as she will be more readily available to answer questions. I am part of Unified Command and doing everything I can to manage this unprecedented crisis for our 8.4 million Virginians.
Yours in service,
Brian Moran
https://vpb.virginia.gov/contact/
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Here's a link to contact the Virginia Parole Board: https://vpb.virginia.gov/contact/
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