Prison News | virginia

• Education & Rehabilitation
• Executions, Death Row, & the Death Penalty
• Gangs in Prison
• Health & Medical Treatment
• Prison Classification, Placement, and Release
• Prison Conditions & Corruption
• Prison Life & Prison Culture
• Riots, Lockdowns & Escapes
• Suicides in Prison
• Workplace & Industry News and Science & Tech

Education & Rehabilitation

Executions, Death Row & the Death Penalty

• Doctor gets 40 years in opioid prescription case. He gave drugs to every patient, feds say
  
  A Virginia doctor who federal prosecutors said illegally prescribed more than half a million opioid pills in two years was sentenced to 40 years in prison....[more]
  US Today, Friday, October 4, 2019
  
  
• Another inmate dies in Regional Jail custody
  
  CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A fifth inmate has died in a West Virginia Regional Jail in less than a month....[more]
  http://wvmetronews.com, Saturday, July 20, 2019
  
  
• 3rd inmate dies at North Central Regional Jail in less than a month
  
  GREENWOOD — Another inmate has died at the North Central Regional Jail, the third since June 30....[more]
  www.wvnews.com, Friday, July 19, 2019
  
  
• One inmate dead, 7 sent to hospitals after suspected overdoses at Virginia prison
  
  One inmate died and seven others were hospitalized after suspected overdoses Saturday at Haynesville Correctional Center, a state prison in Richmond County, Va., authorities said Sunday....[more]
  The Washington Post, Sunday, June 16, 2019
  
  
• Charlottesville Police Arrest Teen After Racist Threat
  
  POLICE IN Charlottesville, Virginia, arrested and charged a 17-year-old Friday in connection with a racist online threat that closed Charlottesville city schools for two days....[more]
  US News, Friday, March 22, 2019
  
  
• 'Justice is bought': Paul Manafort sentencing draws accusations of privilege
  
  Lawyers and politicians have voiced their outrage at the 47-month prison sentence handed to Paul Manafort, Donald Trump’s former campaign manager, for bank and...[more]
  https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/mar/08/scathing-indictment-paul-manafort-sentencing-draws-accusations-of-privilege, Friday, March 8, 2019
  
  

Gangs in Prison

• Another inmate dies at North Central Regional Jail in Doddridge County, WV
  
  GREENWOOD — An inmate died late Monday evening at the North Central Regional Jail, according to a state official....[more]
  www.wvnews.com, Tuesday, July 9, 2019
  
  
• War hero tackles US over degrading prison conditions
  
  Out of America Dumping grounds for drug addicts, the mentally ill and petty thieves exposed by Democrat senator...[more]
  Independent On Sunday, Tuesday, August 9, 2011
  
  
• Sex crimes carry threat of extended detention
  
  Prosecutors in Virginia can petition to place sex offenders in mental institutions after their prison terms are up...[more]
  Roanoke Times , Sunday, May 13, 2007
  
  
• Jail serves as gauge for gang activity on the street
  
  Since a Latin Kings gang member was stabbed and slashed more than 80 times in Chesapeake Beach in 1999...[more]
  The Virginian-Pilot , Thursday, December 28, 2006
  
  
• MS-13 member gets life plus 10 years
  
  ...[more]
  Associated Press Newswires, Saturday, December 16, 2006
  
  

Health & Medical Treatment

• Former Virginia inmate wins $1M in medical malpractice suit
  
  RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A former Virginia inmate won more than $1 million in a malpractice suit against prison medical staff he accused of improperly treating his broken finger, saying he still feels the effects....[more]
  www.whsv.com, Friday, July 19, 2019
  
  
• Inmate who was suing prison over poor medical care has died
  
  RICHMOND, Va. — An inmate who was suing her Virginia prison over allegations of poor medical treatment has died....[more]
  www.washingtonpost.com, Wednesday, July 10, 2019
  
  
• Corrections department worries about health care costs
  
  ?Virginia’s prison system faces a $45 million shortfall in inmate health care through next year, even as the corrections department bears the brunt of the latest round of cuts in the two-year state budget.

  The shortfall emerged this year after a private company that had provided health care to inmates at 17 prisons in hard-to-serve areas ended its contract with the state at the end of September, according to Department of Corrections Director Harold Clarke in a presentation Monday to the House Appropriations Committee....[more]

  Roanoke Times, Tuesday, October 21, 2014
  
  

Prison Classification, Placement, & Release

• Can Virginia claim a prison-reform dividend?
  
  As Virginia lawmakers continue to battle over the state budget, they are overlooking a billion-dollar issue....[more]
  Washington Post, Saturday, April 12, 2014
  
  
• Va. to monitor sex offenders on Halloween night
  
  RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia authorities are planning to monitor sex offenders while children are out trick-or-treating....[more]
  Associated Press, Thursday, October 31, 2013
  
  
• Va opening new 1,000-person correctional center in Grayson County; 1st to open since 2007
  
  INDEPENDENCE, Va. — Virginia is opening a new correctional facility in Grayson County.

  Gov. Bob McDonnell is set to open the River North Correctional Center on Wednesday afternoon. It’s the first new Virginia Department of Corrections facility since 2007....[more]

  Associated Press, Wednesday, September 25, 2013
  
  
• Too many prisoners? Not really
  
  It is disturbing but telling that the person who has overseen the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Bureau of Prisons for the ninth-longest tenure in history says the criminal justice system is broken....[more]
  Pilot Online, Friday, August 23, 2013
  
  
• Vienna woman fights for prisoners’ parole access in Virginia; Only 4 percent of eligible inmates in Virginia are paroled each year
  
  When her son was incarcerated 12 years ago, Carla Peterson of Vienna became acquainted with the Virginia prison system. "My son is now an engineer working in Manassas," said Peterson, who declined to give the reason for his former ......[more]
  Washington Post, Wednesday, July 17, 2013
  
  

Prison Conditions & Corruption

• West Virginia officials investigating 2 inmate assaults at regional jail
  
  CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - Authorities have begun an investigation into two inmate-on-inmate assaults at a regional jail in West Virginia....[more]
  www.wtap.com, Monday, July 8, 2019
  
  
• Report criticizes Virginia corrections policies
  
  RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - A report issued Wednesday by a justice reform organization says that Virginia is spending too much to keep too many people locked up for too long....[more]
  Associated Press, Wednesday, April 2, 2014
  
  

Prison Life & Culture

• ‘Lockup’ off to solid start in portraying life in Fairfax County jail
  
  The fruits of spending four months, day in and day out, in the Fairfax County jail were unveiled Saturday night when “Lockup: Fairfax” premiered on MSNBC. The show did a fine job capturing slices of life in a jail in one of America’s wealthiest counties, particularly in portraying the professionalism of the deputies here, but it will be interesting to see how deeply they dig into the one issue that bedevils corrections officials everywhere: mental health. It was hinted at in Episode One, but we’ll see how far they go. Some viewers also expressed concerns about the exploitation aspect of the show. It’s a legitimate concern....[more]
  Washington Post, Monday, September 8, 2014
  
  
• Serial killer Alfredo Prieto is still claiming he’s intellectually disabled. Seriously?
  
  Alfredo Prieto has been convicted of murdering three people, raping two of them, and DNA or ballistics link him to another six homicides and two rapes. That is nine slayings in a little more than two years. Four of his victims were in Northern Virginia. He is one of the “great” unrecognized serial killers of our time. Yet a recent Supreme Court ruling has revived the prospect that he could avoid the three death sentences he currently faces, because his defense raised the possibility that he was intellectually disabled, and the news media have begun discussing Prieto as a serious candidate for post-conviction relief. Specifically, Virginia law...[more]
  Washington Post, Friday, June 13, 2014
  
  
• Virginia ex-felons push to restore voting rights
  
  RICHMOND - Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell could restore the voting rights of 10,000 nonviolent ex-felons by the end of his term - nearly twice as many as he has granted in 3½ years in office, administration officials said Monday....[more]
  Washington Post, Monday, July 15, 2013
  
  
• War hero tackles US over degrading prison conditions
  
  Out of America Dumping grounds for drug addicts, the mentally ill and petty thieves exposed by Democrat senator...[more]
  Independent On Sunday, Tuesday, August 9, 2011
  
  

Riots, Lockdowns & Escapes

• Man Who Killed State Police Agent Accused in Jail Attack
  
  WARSAW, Va. (AP) — A Richmond man convicted of fatally shooting a Virginia State Police special agent has been accused of attacking another inmate while in custody....[more]
  USNews, Saturday, January 4, 2020
  
  
• Virginia inmate who escaped from work release crew at airport captured in DC
  
  WEYERS CAVE, Va. (AP) - A Virginia inmate who escaped while on work release is back in custody. The Virginia Department of Corrections says the U.S. Marshals Service captured 44-year-old Karan Batra in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday evening. ......[more]
  Associated Press, Thursday, June 20, 2013
  
  

Suicides in Prison

Workplace & Industry News, and Science & Tech News

• State probation officer faces bribery, drug, gun and sex charges in Staunton
  
  STAUNTON, Va. — A Virginia Department of Corrections probation officer faces bribery, drug, gun and sex charges in Staunton....[more]
  Washington Post, Thursday, September 5, 2013