We hope you are well and congratulate you on your candidacy for office in Virginia!

We represent SALT (Social Action Linking Together) a group of over 1,300 advocates working to make our Commonwealth more just and equitable. We are contacting you in the hopes that you will recognize the dire need to end the use of privately managed prisons in Virginia.

As you may be aware, Virginia currently allows the GEO Group, one of the largest private prison corporations in the world, to operate Lawrenceville Correctional Center. For decades, the private prison industry and GEO Group Specifically, have been dogged by scandals at its facilities.  Rampant health violations,increased inmate beatings,sexual harassment by staff, and other incidents have exposed the results of placing the inherently governmental function of incarceration into the hands of corporations. Lawrenceville as a facility is suffering from repeated scandals and serious disrepair. For example,one man endured six month’s of agonizing pain because there was no dentist on staff to perform a simple dental procedure.

Further, a recent report commissioned by the Virginia Department of Corrections (VADOC) found that the starting salary for guards at LVCC was approximately $11,000 less than that of state guards. Not only are guards underpaid, there aren’t enough of them. The VADOC report notes that LVCC needs to hire 93 additional guards to be adequately staffed. Additionally, guards at LVCC must often skip breaks or work additional shifts (sometimes  more than 16 hours straight). GEO doesn't ask guards to work overtime to ensure that LVCC is managed safely; the company just wants to avoid losing money. GEO’s monthly payment is reduced for each improperly staffed shift. Even with these tactics, GEO has been fined an average of $31,294.74 per month for unstaffed shifts since its contract was renewed in 2018.

The use of force to deprive citizens of their liberty should fall exclusively to the government, which is elected and acts as a fiduciary to the people, obligated to pursue the best interests of its constituents. It is the Commonwealth's best interest to provide humane treatment to the citizens in its custody to maximize their chance of rejoining society. Corporations have not been selected by the people and are not directly accountable to them. The motivation for profit causes private prison corporations to engage in dangerous and neglectful ways which harm our communities.

Your campaign statements on justice reform have shown us that you could be a powerful ally in the fight against private prisons in our community. We are calling on you, as a candidate for statewide office, to demonstrate leadership and commitment to creating a just Commonwealth by pledging to support ending the private prison industry in Virginia! We hope that you will consider publicly opposing private prisons, and joining the fight against their use in our Commonwealth. If you wish to discuss this issue, or other social reforms needed in Virginia, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Chuck Meire - SALT Prison Policy Analyst

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Robert Stewart -  SALT Public Affairs Coordinator

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