FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 14, 2023
Media Contacts:
VCSC Chair McGennis Williams, 703-399-4778, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
VCSC Coordinator Natasha White, 347-883-4763, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Virginia Coalition Says Bill Language to ‘End’ Solitary Confinement Run Risk of Expanding It
RICHMOND, Va. — Today the Virginia Coalition on Solitary Confinement (VCSC) voiced unanimous opposition to current bill language on solitary confinement, which – despite reporting that has hailed it as ending solitary confinement in Virginia – has the potential to entrench inhumane conditions for people incarcerated in Virginia, not improve them.
"No reform can be called an ‘end’ to solitary confinement unless it clearly limits the behavior that could justify placing someone there and the length of time that they could be held," said VCSC Chair McGennis Williams. “The newest version of the bill introduced in the House does neither, and the legislature is far from ending solitary confinement.”
As amended in recent days, the House-introduced bill only applies to “Restorative Housing Units” as VADOC defines the terms. It would not place limits on other units, even if they constituted solitary confinement.
That’s in stark contrast to a prior version of the bill, which defined Restorative Housing Units as any units in which people were kept in solitary conditions for more than 20 hours – no matter what name VADOC used for them.
Revised bill language makes it legal to place people in RHUs if their behavior “threatens the orderly operation of the facility.” This new justification could be used to give VADOC virtually unlimited discretion to put people into solitary conditions, all while giving them no ability to challenge their placement.
Perhaps the biggest change in bill language, however, is the question of how long someone could be held in solitary conditions in Virginia. The most recent language removes the time limits that would have made sure no one would be kept in solitary conditions longer than 15 days in a given 60-day period. Now, there is no limit.
“The international standard for solitary confinement is 15 days; anything longer is deemed torture,” said David Lindsey, Executive Director of Interfaith Action for Human Rights. “Any reform on solitary confinement must have a 15-day limit.”
This week, Virginia lawmakers face a critical choice. Soon to go into conference, both the bills introduced in the Senate and House are now going into a process designed to create compromise.
“Any bill that purports to strengthen protections for people held in solitary confinement – much less end solitary in Virginia – must include provisions limiting the amount of time and on what grounds someone can be held there,” said ACLU of Virginia Policy Director Ashna Khanna. “No bill is better than a bad bill, especially a compromise that threatens to exacerbate the very conditions it purports to solve. We urge lawmakers not to pass legislation that fails to meaningfully reform solitary in the Commonwealth.”
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About The Virginia Coalition on Solitary Confinement A broad coalition of faith-based organizations, prison reform advocates, civil rights groups, impacted individuals, and concerned Virginians who are all working to end the practice of torture through solitary confinement in Virginia, the Virginia Coalition on Solitary Confinement’s mission is to end the torturous practice of solitary confinement in Virginia’s prisons and jails. Find out more at www.solitarynomoreva.com.
About the ACLU of Virginia The ACLU of Virginia promotes civil liberties and civil rights for everyone in the Commonwealth through public education, litigation, and advocacy with the goal of securing freedom and equality for all. For more information on the ACLU of Virginia go to www.acluva.org.