Posts Tagged ‘Virginia’
Blacksoil
This Black Soil: A Story of Resistance and Rebirth (2004) – This documentary tells the story of women advocates in a small, rural, and predominately black town in Virginia called Bayview, where the state had plans to build a maximum security prison. The women created a non-profit organization and eventually secured funds to buy the land where the prison was supposed to be built.
Posted by hcdmedia
Virginia Warden to Step Down
Barbara Wheeler, warden of Virginia’s Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women, is retiring. An Associated Press report in June found that inmates who were defined as masculine looking and were mainly lesbians were separated from the other women and placed in wing often referred to as the “butch wing” or “little boys wing.” In addition to reporting on homophobia, the report found that inmates had limited access to religious services.
Read more here.
Posted by hcdmedia
Will Virginia Prison Building Become PETA Museum?
PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has written to Virginia Governor Tim Kaine asking to rent out Botetourt Correctional Center building to be used as a “Chicken Empathy Museum.” In order to cut costs, Kaine will be closing prison facilities around the state. PETA claims the museum would provide jobs and serve as a tribute to liberation. A spokesperson for Kaine stated that the state doesn’t lease building to private entities.
Posted by hcdmedia
Virginia Prison Bans Book Program, Causes Anger
Thousands of inmates in Virginia have received books through the Quest Institute, a Charlottesville-based nonprofit group and a part of Books Behind Bars, a nonprofit that provides books to prisoners all over the United States. But last month, Virginia prison officials banned the program last month stating that security risks were too high and the influx of books created too much work for corrections officers.
This ban has caused a great deal of anger from prisoners and prison advocates who say that this program has countless educational benefits.
Read the full Washington Post article here…
Posted by hcdmedia