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| The Parole Board's mission is to assess an individual's readiness for release based on whether they have been fully "corrected" and rehabilitated during their Department of Corrections stay, and not to base their judgment on the seriousness of the crime or on the wishes of the original prosecutor or the family members of the victim. Victims and their families deserve every possible form of restitution, not mere revenge. |
HARDTIME VIRGINIA Summer 2026 Vol. 11, No. 2
An occasional newsletter by and for the incarcerated, Harvey Yoder, editor
What’s Up With The New Parole Board?
Most of us were hopeful that the newly appointed Parole Board sworn in in March would be more generous in offering release to deserving men and women in prison. In its first official (April) report, however, it reported on the cases of only two persons, neither of them interested in parole, apparently determining they would be better off waiting until they were to have a clean discharge. In May the Board noted eight persons being continued on parole and on four having their parole revoked, with only two releases granted, each because of a terminal illness.
While this may seem puzzling, my understanding after talking with others with the same concerns is that the board is getting themselves set up with a process for making the best possible decisions while receiving a lot of new information to train themselves, as none of them have ever done this before. I know they’ve been interviewing incarcerated folks, just not making final decisions until they have a better understanding. They had also requested that the full implementation of the HB1030 bill creating objective criteria on which to base a release be in place a year later to give them more time to get that into their system and to fully comply with its provisions.
The reality of having a whole new board after the last one only said 'no' is that it requires five new people to learn what to do without anyone having any prior experience, and it has taken even more time because they are actually making a point to receive input from advocates and returning citizens in a way that has never been done before.
Three representatives from our Valley Justice Coalition, for example, were able to meet with members of the board for an hour last month via Zoom to share our concerns. So there is reason to believe a little delay now is better than a bunch of rushed decisions. With their jobs and the administration's reputation on the line, they will more likely resort to 'no' when hurried.
Governor Spanberger’s Press Conference Offers New Hope
In a June 23 news conference with DOC Director Joseph Walters and Secretary of Public Safety Stanley Meadors, Governor Spanberger noted significant improvements in DOC stats on incidences of violence, lockdowns, drug overdoses, and the use of solitary confinement. She also used this occasion to announce the formation of a Governor's Community Partnership Council on Corrections https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evnFkzYhed8.
A major issue she did not address, however, was the need to reduce the number of persons incarcerated in the commonwealth, numbers which are causing a strain on a system lacking in necessary financial and personnel resources.
VDOC Posts “Second Chance Stories” on YouTube
Three of us from the Valley Justice Coalition recently met with DOC Director Joseph Walters and nine of his staff for a conversation about prison reform. One of the ideas we suggested was that VDOC create a website highlighting the successes of individual “graduates” from the Commonwealth’s “School of Corrections.” None of us really expected this to be taken seriously, so we were pleasantly surprised to learn that Walters almost immediately directed a member of his staff to work on this. The result is 20 video-recordings by incarceration survivors, stories that inspire hope and will hopefully add to the public’s willingness to support second chances.
From The Editor’s Mailbag
• David Annarelli at Haynesville had a piece published in the recent Georgetown University’s American Criminal Law Review. He also has frequent commentaries on prisonradio.org and has his own website at https://davidannarelli.substack.com/
• Jeff Smith at Buckingham has drafted a bill to amend the code of Virginia by adding a section establishing a Second Look Resentencing Review for individuals serving life sentences for non-homocide offenses.
• David Carmichael at Lawrenceville has also drafted a bill, one that would provide for new work release and furlough provisions for deserving people, noting that people who are able to enter society with a portfolio are far less likely to recidivate after their release.
• Charles Zellers, Sr. at Deerfield is seeking someone on the outside to build a small dwelling on a rural property his sisters have acquired in Lunenberg County. He hopes to develop a community of homes on the property for incarceration survivors.
• Steve Colosi at Buckingham has created a “Roadmap to a Successful Parole Interview,”emphasizing factors like maintaining good posture and eye contact, accepting responsibility, expressing remorse, being precise and to the point in answering questions, and avoiding playing the victim or assuming the Board will be persuaded by stressing your family’s need for you or how much you deserve release.
• Shawn Weneta, a formerly incarcerated individual and a professional consultant, provided his Richmond Times column about the looming crisis in healthcare costs the DOC faces with a rapidly growing geriatric prison.
Most of us were hopeful that the newly appointed Parole Board sworn in in March would be more generous in offering release to deserving men and women in prison. In its first official (April) report, however, it reported on the cases of only two persons, neither of them interested in parole, apparently determining they would be better off waiting until they were to have a clean discharge. In May the Board noted eight persons being continued on parole and on four having their parole revoked, with only two releases granted, each because of a terminal illness.
While this may seem puzzling, my understanding after talking with others with the same concerns is that the board is getting themselves set up with a process for making the best possible decisions while receiving a lot of new information to train themselves, as none of them have ever done this before. I know they’ve been interviewing incarcerated folks, just not making final decisions until they have a better understanding. They had also requested that the full implementation of the HB1030 bill creating objective criteria on which to base a release be in place a year later to give them more time to get that into their system and to fully comply with its provisions.
The reality of having a whole new board after the last one only said 'no' is that it requires five new people to learn what to do without anyone having any prior experience, and it has taken even more time because they are actually making a point to receive input from advocates and returning citizens in a way that has never been done before.
Three representatives from our Valley Justice Coalition, for example, were able to meet with members of the board for an hour last month via Zoom to share our concerns. So there is reason to believe a little delay now is better than a bunch of rushed decisions. With their jobs and the administration's reputation on the line, they will more likely resort to 'no' when hurried.
Governor Spanberger’s Press Conference Offers New Hope
In a June 23 news conference with DOC Director Joseph Walters and Secretary of Public Safety Stanley Meadors, Governor Spanberger noted significant improvements in DOC stats on incidences of violence, lockdowns, drug overdoses, and the use of solitary confinement. She also used this occasion to announce the formation of a Governor's Community Partnership Council on Corrections https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evnFkzYhed8.
A major issue she did not address, however, was the need to reduce the number of persons incarcerated in the commonwealth, numbers which are causing a strain on a system lacking in necessary financial and personnel resources.
VDOC Posts “Second Chance Stories” on YouTube
Three of us from the Valley Justice Coalition recently met with DOC Director Joseph Walters and nine of his staff for a conversation about prison reform. One of the ideas we suggested was that VDOC create a website highlighting the successes of individual “graduates” from the Commonwealth’s “School of Corrections.” None of us really expected this to be taken seriously, so we were pleasantly surprised to learn that Walters almost immediately directed a member of his staff to work on this. The result is 20 video-recordings by incarceration survivors, stories that inspire hope and will hopefully add to the public’s willingness to support second chances.
From The Editor’s Mailbag
• David Annarelli at Haynesville had a piece published in the recent Georgetown University’s American Criminal Law Review. He also has frequent commentaries on prisonradio.org and has his own website at https://davidannarelli.substack.com/
• Jeff Smith at Buckingham has drafted a bill to amend the code of Virginia by adding a section establishing a Second Look Resentencing Review for individuals serving life sentences for non-homocide offenses.
• David Carmichael at Lawrenceville has also drafted a bill, one that would provide for new work release and furlough provisions for deserving people, noting that people who are able to enter society with a portfolio are far less likely to recidivate after their release.
• Charles Zellers, Sr. at Deerfield is seeking someone on the outside to build a small dwelling on a rural property his sisters have acquired in Lunenberg County. He hopes to develop a community of homes on the property for incarceration survivors.
• Steve Colosi at Buckingham has created a “Roadmap to a Successful Parole Interview,”emphasizing factors like maintaining good posture and eye contact, accepting responsibility, expressing remorse, being precise and to the point in answering questions, and avoiding playing the victim or assuming the Board will be persuaded by stressing your family’s need for you or how much you deserve release.
• Shawn Weneta, a formerly incarcerated individual and a professional consultant, provided his Richmond Times column about the looming crisis in healthcare costs the DOC faces with a rapidly growing geriatric prison.
• William Thorpe, who has spent years in solitary confinement and has been transferred to a Texas prison, is advocating for a mandatory review of all sentences after a determined number of years.
Harvey Yoder, Valley Justice Coalition, P.O. Box 434, Harrisonburg, VA 22803
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