Prison reform advocate Phil Wilayto is fed up. For years he’s been demanding better oversight of the Virginia Department of Corrections, of regional jails and detention centers, but inmates keep reporting abuse at the hands of guards, terrible heat in facilities with no air conditioning, inadequate medical services, a lack of educational programs and little hope for improvements.
“Particularly since Governor Youngkin came to office and started reversing some of the changes that had been made in the system, there is a great feeling of powerlessness and depression and even despair within the prison system," he says. "We’ve seen that manifested by a sharp increase in fatal drug overdoses, suicides. There’s no parole. There’s no real push for second chances.”
So, working with the Virginia Prison Justice Network and the Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice and Equality, Wilayto decided to do something dramatic – to educate the public and put increased pressure on politicians. He rented space at the Greater Richmond Convention Center for what he called the People’s Tribunal. More than 150 people showed up – many with letters from loved ones in prison. Co-organizers Ana Edwards and Tamir Gore read some of those:
" My name is Larry Roberts. I’ve been in prison since I was 16 years old, and I’ll be 36 in November 2023. I’ve been badly beaten by officers who wish death upon me just because I use the grievance procedure."
“There were two serious incidents last month of prisoners here at Pocahontas State Correctional Center being beaten maliciously by officers. Both these men were fully restrained – handcuffs and leg irons – while having their heads and faces smashed into the ground.”
"My name is Nathaniel Hollis Lamb, and I’m currently incarcerated at Sussex II state prison. I’ve been down almost ten years, and I’ve seen a guy hang himself. I’ve seen a man get assaulted. I’ve been in several fights, and I’ve also been beaten by the officers. I've been to six prisons ... the cell you live in."
“In here you see neglect at its most severe state. You have to kick the door for a man who is having a heart attack, for he is in a cell where the intercom doesn’t work. Once the booth officer becomes aware, then the next fight is finding a nurse due to shortness of staff. You see stabbings of the week stitching themselves up, because there is nowhere to go. Because there is no staffing, there is no recreation, programs, school, nobody to do rounds. We are left to our own devices. It’s prisoners who notify staff of overdoses or seizures. It’s prisoners who are the first responders and render first aid with no medical training.”
"What I'm locked up for I didn't do. I was forced to take a plea to save my life. I have eight years left in prison, and I have no one left in my family except distant cousins and an aunt. I'm hoping that someone out there who hears this letter will write me. Thank you for reading my letter and God bless all of you who came.to support change."
Then, a panel of judges weighed-in with their thoughts on what should be done. Rob Poggenklass is executive director of an advocacy group called Justice Forward Virginia. He urged participants to vote in the current legislative election, noting that gerrymandering was less of a problem now, creating an important opportunity.
“The Supreme Court has drawn new maps, and so 40% of the legislators are retiring or moving on this election.”
And once lawmakers are elected, Poggenklass urged people to take part in Lobby Day – to better educate their representatives.
“Hearing from directly impacted people – from family members of directly impacted people, moves those politicians in ways that you can’t believe it will, but it does. I’ve watched it happen. I’ve sat in the room.”
State law and policymakers were invited to the tribunal, but few if any showed up. Wilayto was not deterred. He vowed to send a video of the event to each of them, along with a report on what had been said. His goal, in the next legislative session, is to get real oversight of the state’s prisons and jails. The governor did include $250,000 for the new office of an ombudsman, but Wilayto is skeptical, noting states with independent oversight spend several million dollars a year to review and investigate complaints, and those offices have the power to take action.
“We want to see an independent elected body that has the authority to go into any prison, jail or detention center, 24/7, talk to any prisoner in private, and immediately – if they come to the conclusion that there is a danger to life and limb – that they can say: This correctional officer is suspended. This warden is suspended. Without that it’s just an illusion.”
Wilayto hopes the People’s Tribunal will spark a mass movement to reform prisons and jails. Noting affirmative action began and the environmental protection agency was founded under Republican President Richard Nixon, he says it’s not impossible that change will come to corrections during the administration of Glenn Youngkin.
