A member of the General Assembly’s Legislative Black Caucus says he has ideas for immediate actions and for longer-term initiatives following an unannounced visit to Red Onion State Prison on Monday.
Del. Michael Jones, D-Richmond, and caucus aide Ceci Cain spent roughly two and a half hours touring the facility and speaking with several inmates.
The visit came in the wake of allegations by some inmates of mistreatment at the maximum-security prison near the Wise County town of Pound, along with claims that some inmates have recently set themselves on fire in protest. Department of Corrections Director Chadwick Dotson has said the claims are overblown.
Jones and Cain were allowed to tour the facility after staff contacted Dotson directly to clear it. Dotson “is glad the delegate is here,” said Thomas Meyer, the department’s regional administrator, who was at Red Onion on Monday while on a tour of Southwest Virginia facilities.
However, a Cardinal News reporter and photographer were not allowed to go inside with them and were told media visits must be arranged in advance.
After their tour, Jones identified four areas where he sees an immediate need for improvement: the quality of inmates’ food, better access to educational resources, better and more prompt medical care, and prison leadership putting a stop to racist behavior toward Black inmates.
Cain said several inmates — including some who are from Jones’ legislative district — repeated similar concerns around all four issues. Some inmates complained that they have faced obstacles protesting prison conditions along with conducting legal appeals, and said they lack sufficient information on how to pursue resolution of issues, she said.
Jones said inmates “should not feel that their only recourse to be heard is to set themselves on fire.”
Prison staff members told them that the facility needs more and better resources, including technological upgrades, Cain noted.
Jones said he recognizes that while visitors come and go, both the inmates and prison staff have to be able to be in the facility and get along day after day. “There are two sides to every story,” he said, adding that some inmates told them conditions at Red Onion have improved within the last decade.
He believes the corrections department wants to improve, the delegate said.
Jones said he expects to pursue state budget initiatives during the legislative session that begins next month to boost funding for food, education and medical care. He also intends to work from the legislative side on improving programs for inmates’ reentry to their communities after their release. A lot of inmates are not being prepared adequately for that transition, he believes.
It will be up to corrections leadership to educate staff on eliminating any racist behavior toward inmates, but legislators will press the urgency of doing so, he said. Jones said he expects to discuss that issue with state Secretary of Public Safety Terrance Cole in the very near future.
The newly created corrections ombudsman’s office, once it is fully up and running, intends to make investigation of concerns at Red Onion its first priority, a spokesperson said during a House of Delegates Public Safety Committee hearing earlier this month.
As of October, Red Onion housed 764 inmates, according to a Department of Corrections population report.
Allegations include physical abuse, medical neglect
In October, Prison Radio broke the news about reports of inmates setting themselves on fire or burning themselves with modified electronic devices in attempts to get transferred out of Red Onion. Prison Radio is an independent media company that focuses on the stories and experiences of inmates in prison systems across the country.
In a November statement, the Legislative Black Caucus said inmates have described racial and physical abuse from correctional officers; medical neglect, including the withholding of medicine; excessive stays in solitary confinement, with one report of 600 consecutive days; inedible food covered in maggots and officers’ spit; and violent dog attacks.
In response, Dotson said 12 Black inmates did not “self-immolate,” but he acknowledged that six inmates had burned themselves between March and October of this year. Some of those inmates were treated at the department’s secure medical facility at VCU Medical Center before they were cleared to return to the prison. Others, he said, did not require outside medical treatment. All of the inmates who had burned themselves were referred to mental health staff for treatment, and some of them had a history of self-harm, Dotson said.