“Stress is What We Wake Up To.”

Stress is what we wake up to, walk with, and lay down with… It’s in our phone calls, our visits, and our mail… Its in our food, prices at the already high commissary, and a holiday package that costs more than you can afford! Its all around us, and how do we escape it?? We don’t… We have learned over time that people like “Youngkin,” do things for the political aspect of it.

Think back 30 years to when Governor Allen had Virginia… The scare tactic he ran off of and the way the system went down…. Youngkin is running in his shadows trying to gain a foothold in the political landscape off of our backs as past politician’s have done also. So for me, I try to live with it. When it gets to the point I think its winning, I stop everything and take a step back… So I embrace it, and at times I may need something to help me get up or go to sleep, but after 30+ years with no breaks and a lot of dreams, I think embracing it works better than fighting with it.

People, I’ve lost almost all of my family… I’m at the hands of the system and whatever it chooses to do… But I keep pushing for change!! Mental health in the system is not up to what society thinks it is in here. Think about it, the man at Marion who was killed last February 2022, by those COs who kicked him and one hour later they found him dead… That wasn’t the first time it happened. The medical staff at Smith County Hospital didn’t report the first incident in 2018 to the police, so they got by with it… Now they may never be prosecuted for killing a man with the brain of an eight year old child!!!

Mental health isn’t no where near were it should be in here… I’ve seen people who have actually lost it and because they are put into regular pods instead of mental health treatment centers, they usually get assaulted…

We need people who are committed to making big changes in this system and those who talk the game but don’t follow thru, make sure to impeach them from the office they received by your good graces… People out there can put them in office but can remove them also before their term is up if they don’t hold up to their campaign promise.

The old heads in the system like to say, (let the young bucks have it now)… We let the young people out there stand up to get their loved ones back from a system that’s not designed to rehabilitate, it just warehouses people for the federal dollars. Money is the only thing that talks…

Russell Browning, #1116214

OPPOSING SCALES: THE WEIGHT OF VIRGINIA’S ENHANCED SENTENCE CREDITS & 2022 BUDGET AMENDMENT

By David Bomber

From the moment that Don Scott, Delegate for the 80th District of Virginia, introduced the Earned Sentence Credits bill in 2020, the atmosphere in this state changed. Suddenly, it seemed like criminal justice reform in Virginia was taking on real meaning, that change was finally coming about. In turn, this bill energized advocates and incarcerated folks alike, as well as their families, and further gave everyone involved a glimmer of hope. What fueled that fire even more was during that same year John Edwards, Senator for the 21st District of Virginia, introduced a bill to reinstate parole – an extraordinary measure considering that parole had been abolished in Virginia since July 1st, 1995. For all intents and purposes, it seemed like the lawmakers here in Virginia were finally getting it. Perhaps all the hard work that everyone had put in towards criminal justice reform was finally paying off.

Although the Earned Sentence Credits bill eventually passed, it turned out to only benefit some, while it dashed the hopes for many others. Initially the bill was introduced to provide incentives to gain an earlier release for any given prisoner who demonstrated good behavior and worked towards rehabilitating themselves. Unfortunately, that same bill was amended later on to exclude violations of certain offenses, such as malicious wounding, homicide, robbery, etc. This means that those affected by these exclusions can only earn the same rate of “good time” as they always have, a maximum of 4.5 sentence credits for each 30 days served (for those under the “new law”). The other crushing blow came that affected all the new law incarcerated folks as well as their families is when Edward’s bill to reinstate parole was first “tabled,” then eventually defeated. Perhaps lawmakers here in Virginia aren’t getting it after all – keeping folks locked up isn’t the answer. If anything it exacerbates the issue of mass incarceration.

What followed suit after that can only be characterized as mind boggling. In Governor Youngkin’s 2022 budget amendment, a provision was adopted that precluded anyone with “mixed charges” to benefit from the Earned Sentence Credits statue. In other words someone with convictions for something like grand larceny & malicious wounding doesn’t qualify for Earned Sentence Credits based solely on the malicious wounding. To put it fairly, this amounts than nothing more than a Draconian policy instituted by the Younkin administration. It is no wonder that the ACLU of Virginia has filed two separate lawsuits over these matters – one of which was recently won because the Earned Sentence Credits statue was misinterpreted and ultimately misapplied by the Virginia D.O.C. The other, which hasn’t been decided yet, addresses Youngkin’s policy on the ineligibility aspect of those with “mixed charges.”

If anyone isn’t surprised by these things, it is I. Convicted in 2011 of aggravated malicious wounding & second-degree murder, both the Court of Appeals and Supreme Court of Virginia’s determined that they could “not ascertain the legislative intent” and ultimately upheld my convictions – never mind that only ONE ACT was involved against the SAME VICTIM. From my perspective, it seems that Virginia has a track record of failing to interpret the statues properly, and further gives me the sense that I am being punished twice, unfairly I might add.

Similarly, the exclusions set forth in the Earned Sentence Credits & the 2022 Budget Amendment gives many incarcerated folks and their families a bleak outlook, particularly on criminal justice reform. As stressful and daunting as these matters are, now is not the time to roll over and pretend that these issues will go away on their own. The best thing that advocates, incarcerated folks, and their families can do to cope with these issues and bring about change is to take them on and get directly involved with Virginia’s lawmakers.

Thank you for taking time to read this. If you would like to get in contact with me directly, my contact info is enclosed below.

CONTACT INFO

To email me directly please visit http://www.jpay.com and submit Virginia ID #1130793 (Jpay is a service that the Virginia D.O.C. utilizes for prisoner communications with the public)(Note: this service does require users to purchase virtual stamps in order to send messages).

To follow my cause on Facebook:
@Justice4davidbomber

To join the conversation:
#freedavidbomber

To follow me on social media:
https://linktr.ee/freedavidbomber

For General Correspondence:
David Bomber #1130793
Nottoway Correctional Center
P.O. Box 488
Burkeville, Va. 23922

Acknowledgement of Prevention

Peace to the strong, resilient comrades in this fight for FREEDOM.

My name is Devin L Phillips #1158007, here in the field of Lawrenceville CC, YOU CAN CALL ME SADDIUM!!! There’s so much to be said about the current state of existence behind these walls..at times too many words dilute the message. Too much focus is placed on the negative, that we tend to disregard the positive, productive works put forth by those not recognized by the administration! To speak in metaphorical terms, all I would like to say is….

“We tend to always concentrate, and point out the many crashes, and collisions that occur at the intersection… how about we take a few minutes, to acknowledge the overwhelming number of accidents, and catastrophes that the under appreciated traffic lights, and traffic signs have, and continue to prevent???”

#weinthetrenches

SALUTE!!

“Wellness in the Age of Political Uncertainty and Extremism”

By Danny Thomas

As Virginians, we are still reeling from the shocking loss of political fairness and equality with the election of Youngkin and Miyares. Even today, I find myself asking what if McCauliffe hadn’t commented that “parents don’t have a right to dictate their children’s education.” You could clearly see his momentum wane by the second – as he also recognized this and brought in the “big guns” like Obama and national figures in the education realm in an attempt to repair the damage accrued by this statement.

In any event, this constant shifting of the political winds has created angst in the hearts and minds of so many, particularly minorities of all kinds, especially the prisoner’s of Virginia and their families. Consider the fact that at least 500 men and women housed in Virginia D.O.C. were excited for the opportunity to be released from prison only to have this moment snatched away at the 11th hour. I can recall the anxiety I felt after serving 20 years in maximum security with the expectation that I’d be shipped to a medium, only to have it snatched away. I can only imagine what it feels like to expect your freedom then have it taken from you to serve political interests.

Consider the children expecting their parent to come home only to suffer the gravest of disappointment. It is difficult enough to explain to young children that you’re away from them because you did something that you shouldn’t have, then plan your reunion, then build their expectations only to find yourself letting them down again. Psychologically, the idea of defeat is ever present and the circumstances we live under will either nourish the defeat or starve it – unfortunately incarceration provides a full course meal for the defeatist mind.

It is astonishing that so many of us and our families are able to thrive in spite of the pervasive nature of ” learned helplessness.” The incarceration of family becomes a shared experience in which both suffer separately, but equally. Although visitation and phone calls serve as a type of “numbing agent” for the soul, both are left with a hollow place in their consciousness for which their is no immediate gratification, the only remedy requires freedom from the carceral restraints that bind us yet separate.

Our knowledge of the carceral system will ensure that we can experience a healthy existence in spite of the enormous obstacles we face. The wellness of our selves and family is predicated on just how resilient and resolute we prove to be. There is no magic pill or how to book to mimic, the wellness we seek is born from our recognition of “the open enemy,” the politician that has industrialized crime for the sake of creating jobs in their respective districts; the one who refuses to recognize that poverty is the mother of crime and not genetics as many of them would presume.

The sure strategy against this pathology is our education and advocacy against the system that seeks to break our will and define us as a valueless people. In the words of the immortal Nelson Mandela, “the attack of the wild beast cannot be averted with bare hands.”

In Struggle,

Danny Thomas, #1054249
Green Rock Correctional

July Prompt: State Leaders, Mental Health, and Incarcerated Lives

It’s been an entire year since the VA governor’s 11th hour budget amendment that denied thousands of hopeful incarcerated people and their families long-awaited relief from Virginia’s harsh practice of over sentencing. The sudden walk back combined with the already adverse conditions (i.e. the Coronavirus Pandemic, Fentanyl, etc) plaguing the penitentiary have caused serious stress for some – myself included. This elevates the every day stressors of prison life from a common occurrence that can be remedied with moderate time and care, to a contest of will that can have lethal consequences for the defeated.

The prison yard has been relatively quiet, subdued by the jerk and pull of politics and the overwhelming sense of powerlessness. Dejected prisoners have not mustered the spirit to organize in light of all the work that has been done on their behalf in the past few years. From personal experience that spans a decade and a half, prisoners do not expect things to change and the past year has reinforced feelings of injustice. These feelings have been suppressed for the most part and redistributed to expressions that firmly place prisoners deeper into prison life and further from productive, prospective ways of thinking.

For me, the past year has been a crash course in environmental influence on mental health and how this is so essential to effective rehabilitation. It has also raised an important question in my mind: How much weight do our state leaders place on the mental wellness of its incarcerated? How much weight to they place on mental wellness and public safety?

State Democrats decided not to readdress Enhance Sentence Credits in this year’s General Assembly — predicting failure to pass and further unnecessary stress on prisoners and their families. Currently, the matter of Earned Sentence Credits and the Governor’s walk back of eligibility is being heard by the VA Supreme Court. This process can take quite some time to be decided. Other alternatives to relief include: expiration of the budget amendment in June 2024 (and hopefully its not reissued by the Governor and House), or The House gains enough Second Chance members in the upcoming election to push a bill through. This form of alternative also cannot be effective till 2024.

In the meantime, what do we do about the immense mental stress that is pushing prisoners to very bleak brinks — increased agitation, physical altercations, deep depression, and drug overdoses? Each of these issues have been exacerbated by Governor Youngkin’s political agenda and toying with human lives…

-Q, July 2023

Prompt Questions (Thought Starters for the Incarcerated Population):

Can you identify any extra stress brought on by the governor’s budget amendment; for you, your environment, loved ones at home, or friends/family on the inside?
How can the state better use resources in order to address the mental health of incarcerated people?
What may be some key ways to deal with elevated stress while incarcerated?
Can you think of any alternative ways the prison community can view the legislative process to better cope with changes like that of governor Youngkin’s budget amendment?
What can we do as incarcerated people to ensure that we put the right people in office who care about our lives?