Virginia Department of Corrections has not been vindicated of abuse, neglect, racism, and retaliation at Red Onion State Prison

RICHMOND, Va. – In response to a Virginia Corrections Ombudsman report from the Office of the Inspector General (OSIG) claiming that allegations of abuse, racism, and retaliation at Red Onion State Prison are “unfounded” and “inconclusive,” ACLU of Virginia Senior Supervising Attorney Vishal Agraharkar released the following statement:

“The ACLU of Virginia fought hard alongside incarcerated people, returned citizens, and their loved ones to establish an office that would have independent oversight of Virginia Department of Corrections (VDOC), because no institution can effectively police itself.

“But this narrow report from the ombudsman's office falls far short of the systemic investigation of conditions at Red Onion that was promised, covering only a handful of interviews over a period of fewer than six months; and it raises serious questions about the reliability of its methodology by, for example, drawing conclusions about medical neglect without actually reviewing any medical records. To fulfill lawmakers’ call to determine the conditions at Red Onion that led people in custody to burn themselves, the OSIG Corrections Ombudsman will have to conduct a thorough, transparent, and far more sweeping investigation than this.

“That’s why today the ACLU of Virginia is making publicly available the nearly 20-page summary of years of reports of a systemic pattern of abuse, neglect, racism, and retaliation that we submitted to the OSIG Corrections Ombudsman last fall when we joined lawmakers in calling for a proper investigation of longstanding conditions at Red Onion State Prison.

"Lawmakers gave the ombudsman’s office the authority to bring transparency to VDOC, not to shield it from allegations of wrongdoing, and we are committed to working together to make sure VDOC does not abuse the system – or people who are incarcerated in Virginia.”