Federal Judge Allows Virginia Inmates Rights’ Lawsuits to Move Forward

A class action lawsuit alleging that the Virginia Department of Corrections has violated its “Step Down” program by arbitrarily keeping people confined solitarily for long periods of time will be allowed to move forward, a federal district judge ruled this week.

While Virginia does not have what is colloquially referred to as “solitary confinement,” Virginia law does have “restorative housing.” This is when incarcerated people are placed in restrictive or isolated housing, typically for safety or punishment reasons due to behavior issues.

The Step Down program is a special type of programming for people placed in solitary housing, meant as an incentive to help them transition back into general population quarters. ACLU’s Thorpe v. VADOC case alleges that in practice, the program lacks transparency.

“Because the committee of prison staff that reviews their conduct meets in secret and does not document the rationale for its decisions, people in the program are not given the opportunity to know why they are kept in the Step-Down Program, much less respond or adjust their behavior,” an ACLU press release explained.

After Del. Holly Seibold, D- Fairfax, and Sen. Mike Jones, D-Chesterfield, each visited Red Onion last year, they said they saw people in restorative housing unable to participate in legally-required out-of-cell time. Seibold worried that this sort of treatment could further exacerbate someone’s behavioral issues or lead to poor mental health.

“Solitary confinement will damage even the most resilient of minds,” Seibold said in 2025.  “I can’t even imagine myself being in there for more than a few days and being able to remain stable.”

With the recent ruling, the  litigation that was filed in 2019 can finally proceed to trial.

In recent years, incarcerated people and their families have been outspoken about concerns of racism, abuse, retaliation and misuse of restorative housing.

A state watchdog report found several of the claims “unsubstantiated,” but did not rule out racism or retaliation from among inmates’ experiences. The probe, however, was narrow in scope, as it focused on allegations stemming from a handful of inmates who’d burned themselves in late 2024.

The investigation, conducted by Virignia’s Corrections Ombudsman, was made possible after state lawmakers created the position in 2024 to focus on oversight of prisons. The reports of inmates burning themselves either in protest or seeking transfer to another facility prompted the ombudsman to prioritize the investigation shortly after taking the job. She then spent a few months hiring additional staff before the team could conduct it.

Published this month, the probe was “limited to relevant circumstances as specified in the complaints,” the report stated.

But due to the information ACLU has gathered in its seven-year case against VADOC, attorney Vishal Agraharkar said that the ombudsman “will have to conduct a thorough, transparent, and far more sweeping investigation than this.”

In the meantime, with their case deemed merited, its details could emerge through the trial process before judgement is made.

New lawsuit alleges withholding of earned sentence-trimming credits for inmates

Virginia has not had parole since the mid-1990’s, and a relatively new law called Enhanced Earned Sentence Credits is a way that people who meet certain good behavior benchmarks can trim time behind bars off their sentences. In two new lawsuits ACLU Virginia filed in federal court, the group alleges that VADOC has unlawfully withheld credits that people have earned.

It’s not the first time VADOC has been taken to court over the matter. The Virginia Supreme Court previously found the department kept people behind bars unlawfully.

“Just because VDOC doesn’t like the law as it’s written doesn’t mean it can go rogue and make its own,” Agraharkar said.

State statute dictates that people can begin earning the credits as soon as they start their incarceration and have a final conviction order. However, the suit points to a VADOC policy wherein people do not begin earning the credits until the department calculates their projected release date.

This process can take months, meaning a person’s incarceration can take longer, and the ACLU argues it is “wasting taxpayer dollars” when people are incarcerated when they should not be.

Despite becoming law in 2020 under previous Gov. Ralph Northam, Enhanced Earned Sentence Credits had a delayed enactment that later was stalled for another few years by former Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

The credits were not fully implemented until 2024, before facing fresh scrutiny from both Youngkin and former Attorney General Jason Miyares.

VDOC has faced  three previous, successful challenges concerning its application of the credits.

by Charlotte Rene Woods, Virginia Mercury

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