The Need for a #SecondLook—Feb.’22 report by nonpartisan @JusticePolicy—analyzes Virginia’s heavy-handed reliance on lengthy prison sentences & reveals how extreme sentences play a significant role in our mass incarceration crisis & surging geriatric prison population.
A THREAD:
The number of people in VA’s prison system, which declined for the first time in 2009 after four decades of growth, has plateaued in recent years and remains plagued with dysfunction that keeps people locked up for extremely long sentences, costing us a BILLION dollars a year. 2/
Virginia is a NATIONAL LEADER OF INCARCERATION. Ranking 9th by prison population size, 13th by rate in the United States, 8th by percentage of Black incarcerated population, and 20th for the number of individuals serving life or virtual life sentences……3/
There remain stark disparities within the adult prison system in VA. Despite only accounting for 19% of the state population, Black people comprise 55% of the prison system. On avg, Black ppl received a sentence 62 months more for the same offense when compared to white ppl. 4/
The toll of mass incarceration in VA has fallen disproportionately on the shoulders of its Black and Brown citizens, with devastating consequences. This is particularly pronounced among those persons serving extreme prison sentences. 5/
One in seven people in VA prisons, 4,193 individuals, is serving a life sentence or a virtual life sentence (serving at least 50yrs). Since the 1970s, this number has increased by MORE than 90%. There are little to no mechanisms for extreme sentence review in the Commonwealth. 6/
Virginia’s prison population is getting older, without public safety benefit and costing taxpayers millions. The latest reporting indicates that 14% of the prison population is at least 55 years old, nearly doubling the proportion from 2011 when it was only 8%. 7/
SecondLook legislation is the type of innovative policy reform and public safety strategy that can begin to address the tremendous financial and human costs of mass incarceration. @VAHouseDems @vahousegop You can read the 2022 @JusticePolicy report, here: justicepolicy.org/wp-content/upl…
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