News @lemmy.world MicroWave @lemmy.world 4w ago

Virginia prison considered charging inmates who burned themselves in protest for ‘intolerable’ conditions

www.nbcnews.com Virginia prison considered charging inmates who burned themselves in protest for ‘intolerable’ conditions

One official from Red Onion State Prison suggested charging the inmates for their hospitalization, while another suggested prosecuting them for setting fires in their cells.

Summary

Inmates at Virginia’s Red Onion State Prison set themselves on fire in 2024 to protest alleged abuse, solitary confinement, and lack of medical care.

Emails reveal prison staff discussed charging the inmates for their medical treatment and prosecuting them for arson.

Advocacy groups and former inmates have long criticized the prison for excessive solitary confinement, abuse, and retaliation.

The Virginia Department of Corrections denies wrongdoing but faces lawsuits and a pending ombudsman investigation into prison conditions.

21 comments

Far far far from a new problem with Virginia prisons. Red Onion "was the model for and is practically identical to Wallens Ridge State Prison in Big Stone Gap" which had this documentary film made about it that documents all sorts of abuse and awful stuff.

Oh, and one of the principal planners of this system ended up getting hired by the federal government to consult on prisons in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2003, prisons which ultimately ended up including Abu Ghraib.
Every day I learn of some new horror.
- Quote needs to be beautifully, ethereally typeset
  
  and a bumper sticker.
"All these hospital visits are affecting our profits!"
I really hate how my expectations are it can't possibly get worse than this, this has to be the lowest this type (who is just about going to be running the country) could sink. Wow. I really wish folks would factor this stuff in before deciding what to do on election day. Yes. both sides bad, but one side way. way. WAY! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYY!!! times infinity. worse.
- Harris would not fix this lmao? She was putting people in prisons like this for years
  
  And this has been happening under Biden for the past 4 years, Trump the 4 years prior, and Obama the 8 years prior to that. Pretending like the election would have made any difference is absurd.
  
  this is disengenous. on the federal level it has to be regulation on the states that is not easy. the state of virginia is run by republicans and what you see at their state levels goes to our federal levels.
- It's like comparing a speeding ticket with Ted Bundy.

21 comments