News and updates from Virginia’s prison-industrial complex. See Stories and the Inside-Outside Newsletter
Protect Javon “Baby Jay” Arrington – Stop Chemical Torture & Sexual Humiliation at Red Onion Javon “Baby Jay” Arrington (#1421147), a young Black man held at Red Onion State Prison. On December 10, 2025, while the prison was on lockdown, he was reportedly thrown against a wall, stripped, beaten, and soaked in burning “O2” chemical […]
Key Points On October 31, 2025, a coalition of formerly incarcerated people, grieving families, and parole & prison reform advocates met privately with Abigail Spanberger’s gubernatorial campaign, now the governor-elect’s team. People described parole as functionally dead, conditions they experience as torture, and deaths in custody with no meaningful investigation. The campaign staffer offered empathy […]
🚨 URGENT: Men inside are facing crisis right now — intervene today In the wake of Officer Jeremy Hall’s death, people inside Virginia’s Western Region prisons report a fast-escalating wave of retaliatory violence, chemical assaults, and information blackout — mirroring the summer surge of repression after a guard stabbing that preceded the death of Aubrey […]
By Kevin “Rashid” Johnson The Virginia legislature created an ombudsman’s office in July 2024, charged with overseeing and investigating the Virginia prison system. Andrea Sapone was appointed as ombudsman that September. The creation of this office was backed by advocacy groups who believed the VADOC could be trusted to investigate and correct itself in the […]
By Kevin “Rashid” Johnson If anyone needed further confirmation that Virgina’s top officials can’t be trusted to safely run the state’s prisons, their recently created policy of collective punishment proves the case. The policy is not just dangerous, it’s downright sinister. At Va’s notorious remote supermax prisons, Red Onion and Wallens Ridge, and their most […]
Protect Isaac Montoya — ICC Prisoner in Virginia • Stop Scabies Outbreak & Restore Vision Care Isaac Montoya (#2155033) is an ICC prisoner in Virginia held at Red Onion State Prison. After long-untreated scabies and vision loss, Virginians must act now to force full outbreak control and ophthalmology care. 🚦 Quick Start — How this […]
