News and updates from Virginia’s prison-industrial complex. See Stories and the Inside-Outside Newsletter
By Kevin “Rashid” Johnson The inhumanity of Virginia’s prisons knows no limits. The experiences of Neil Lyness aka Turbo proves the case. Neil is a double-amputee who lost his left arm and left leg in a motorcycle accident. He’s been confined since 2012, where he spent 3 years in a Va Beach jail before being […]
Defend Kevin “Rashid” Johnson – Stop Legal Access Obstruction & ICC Retaliation Kevin Johnson (VADOC #1007485 / SCDC #397279), prison journalist and organizer held in South Carolina under the Interstate Corrections Compact (ICC). Defend Kevin “Rashid” Johnson Kevin Johnson reports legal-access obstruction and retaliation at Perry Correctional Institution in South Carolina. Virginia is the sending […]
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 […]
