Thread by @socialistdogmom

searching through my old tweets for threads from jail board meetings over the past year and really bumming myself out.
they meet every other month inside the jail and it's always a really fucking bleak experience.

https://twitter.com/socialistdogmom/status/1060589981444521984

love to hold public meetings literally inside of a jail. this is definitely the best place to get public input and is not at all intimidating to people who want to comment on policies that hurt them personally!

chairperson mckeel calling the meeting to order, but we’re missing three board members, including two sheriffs. (where’s james brown? it remains a little funny to me that the charlottesville sheriff is named james brown)

starting things off with public comment. interim city manager mike murphy is reading us the rules. there are 7 people signed up to speak.

first speaker says “we should not be releasing criminals into the public” re: “people who are in this country illegally.”
“if they have come to be in the jail system, they have broken the law”
(bad news for you about that, old lady, about pretrial detention...)

next speaker is here from legal aid justice center. “it is not a matter of law, but a matter of policy” - from a letter to albemarle county CA Tracci from the VA attorney general about ICE notifications. the jail board has the discretion to stop this.

next speaker is @Jalane_Schmidt
“ICE is not adhering to the rule of law,” and the current administration regularly flouts the rule of law. this board should not collaborate with them.
“we should err on the side of empathy for our neighbors.”

next speaker is a local pastor. ICE is sexually abusing detainees, mostly children. releasing people to their custody is inhumane and irresponsible. this board has the power to make the community less afraid. changing this policy would be good for the community.

next speaker is from mexico city & has lived here for 15 years. “i can work hard and make a future for me and my daughters.” she has learned english and has a house.

“i just want to put a face on immigration,” she says. people deserve a second chance. “charlottesville community helped me to be here.”
she spent a month in an ICE detention center. the community helped her pay for an immigration lawyer.

“i’m here to work. i’m here to help the community.”
“sometimes there are no other options,” she says tearfully, about coming to this country illegally.

next up is an attorney who helped the previous speaker. “she is a mother. the primary breadwinner for her two girls,” one of whom is disabled.

“the immigration judge granted eva a bond” because of her work history and the overwhelming support of the community supporting her. “if we all agree that public safety is key here,” why was eva picked up?

the lawyer addresses the jail superintendent, talking about an ICE warrant he recently showed her - “that warrant wasn’t signed.” they regularly cut corners.

next up is @MPayneCville, a candidate for city council.
the current policy “creates a sense of fear that is actively harming” vulnerable members of this community

michael: not changing this policy is supporting an agency that is violating people’s human rights
“you will never be able to build trust in the local community and you will never be able to do your jobs effectively”

that concludes public comment. i don’t believe there is a vote on the policy today.
HB 2270 recently passed both houses of the state legislature but has not yet been signed by the governor. if it is, it makes the local policy obsolete.

governor northam has until the 26th to veto a bill that would REQUIRE ICE notifications. it would go into effect in july. c’mon @GovernorVA, show your commitment to racial equity and veto this.

“there have been some community concerns” about conditions in the jail, wes bellamy says. a mother was upset about her daughter being held in segregation. wes communicated with superintendent kumer about the issue before the meeting.

wes asks kumer to provide updates at each meeting about the number of inmates being held in segregation. kumer says they have a daily report on that and would be happy to share it with the board but declines to share more information right now at the meeting.

lawton tufts asks for a presentation at the next meeting about the jail’s policy on holding inmates in segregation. kumer agrees.

there was an incident recently where visitation was canceled due to a staffing issue - two inmates had to be taken to the hospital (unrelated medical emergencies, it sounds like) which meant 4 staff members had to be stationed with each inmate in the hospital.

they jail board has a new website they are very proud of. mckeel says things like canceled visitation hours can be noted on the website.

mike murphy: should the governor veto the bill, is there any obstacle to the board voting on this policy at the may meeting? the attorney at the table says it’s possible the legislature could overturn the veto. if the bill is dead in may, it would be back to being a local policy.

oh yeah baby, it’s budget season everywhere. we’re talking FISCAL YEAR ‘20 OPERATING BUDGET.

i do feel bad for the cubicle dwelling bureaucrats who have to present their reports in these public meetings. it isn’t their fault they aren’t public speakers. but good god this is dry.

two part time positions are being converted to one full time mental health nurse practitioner. mckeel says she’s thrilled to see this change in the budget, per discussion at the last meeting about the mental health issues in the jail.

over 17 million dollars a year for running the jail. the budget is approved.
imagine what that money could be doing elsewhere. jails don’t solve problems. jails don’t keep communities safe or healthy.

an update from superintendent kumer about VINE notifications - apparently the errors it was putting out were not VINE’s fault, but a communication error between the jail’s software & VINE

jesus christ, the system currently notifies people signed up for VINE notifications AFTER the person is released, not at the time the release date is entered into the system.

keep in mind that while the board has talked about VINE as a substitute for ICE notifications, its actual intended purpose is to notify victims about the location in the system of the person who harmed. this is a scary error for abuse victims.

kumer says they’ve worked with the software vendor & VINE to correct the system. it sounds like it’s been addressed. there will be another update about VINE at the may meeting.
now on to the nursing shortage.

city resident representative kristin clarens has arrived... wearing what looks like a hospital issue sling on one arm! i hope she’s ok. serious meeting commitment to come here from the hospital. (sheriff james brown is still not present)

kumer says they are working hard to fill the empty nursing positions but the nursing shortage is widespread - it isn’t just the jail having this problem. (meaning nurses have a lot of options that are probably less awful than working in a jail!)

returning to the discussion from the last meeting about eliminating the dollar a day fee for being in jail

https://twitter.com/socialistdogmom/status/1083433949160976390?s=21

as in the last meeting, kumer’s concern is that this money is not paid by the offender, but by their family or church or other members of the community.

kumer says the jail currently makes:
74 cents off every dollar for phone usage
30-some cents per dollar for canteen purchases

(talking about using prisoners as profit generators makes me feel ill)

kumer says they just renegotiated their contract with the phone provider. previously they earned a lump sum up front. $220k/yr previously, now around $300k
“we kept rates low, but we’re earning more commissions”

this is honestly making me queasy.

“we have brought in more money without raising fees on our inmates,” kumer says about the new phone contract. he says this offsets the money they’d miss out on by eliminating the dollar a day fee.

“inmates buy hygiene products from the canteen. the more hygiene products they buy for themselves, the less i have to buy for them,” says the jail superintendent, saying eliminating the daily fee would put more money in inmates’ canteen accounts.

the attorney at the table says even though the fee is already eliminated in the budget, the board needs to formally vote to overturn the policy, as it was a board policy to begin with. a motion & a second are made.

a roll call vote -

nelson county sheriff hill is the only vote against repealing the policy charging inmates one dollar per day to be in jail. the motion carries.

kumer says they can make the change effective april 1, even though the budget is for FY beginning july 1. wes asks why it can’t be effective immediately - kumer says it’s easier to make changes starting in a new month.

wes pushes a little, kumer says he can do it “as soon as possible,” maybe as early as next week.

having a hard time mustering up a ton of sympathy for jail guards having trouble using their paid leave.

nonexempt security staff at the jail will be paid for unused holiday leave beginning in may.
good policy, but jail guards aren’t workers.

kumer seems genuinely enthused to announce the jail’s job recruiting fair. it will include a variety of toxic institutions and will be held 4/23, 3-7pm, at the national guard armory across the street from the jail.

albemarle county citizen representative cyndra van clief is asking for a presentation about the law, policy, and current practices surrounding recording of inmates’ phone calls & visitation.

lawton tufts, himself a defense attorney, asks how the jail knows when an inmate is talking to their attorney (these calls can’t be recorded)
kumer says they don’t record those calls & those calls are free for inmates.

“it’s upon them to let us know. the onus is on attorneys to let us know,” says a jail employee whose name i missed.

“there is no expectation of privacy,” for inmates making non-legal calls to counsel, says the attorney. van clief clarifies that she’s asking if the jail is REQUIRED to record those non-counsel calls. mckeel says they’ll get back to her with that information at the may meeting.

and with that, we are adjourned until may 9. hopefully governor northam vetoes the bill that would require ICE notifications & the board can vote on may to overturn their local policy.

*that should say over 16 million, sorry for the typo. hard to catch ‘em in real time during a meeting.

your move, jail board. i hope to see a vote on this issue at the may meeting now that the governor’s veto has returned voluntary ICE notifications to the realm of local policy.

dailyprogress.com/news/politics/…