Activists, family members and supporters rallied last Saturday at the Bell Tower in Capitol Square to support prison reform bills filed recently in the General Assembly, including measures such as parole, record expungement and incentives for good behavior.

More than 50 supporters attended the rally, which allotted speaking time for organization leaders and family members of those incarcerated. Letters from inmates also were read.

Many participants held posters telling the stories of their incarcerated loved ones.

The rally was led by the Virginia Prison Justice Network, which includes 20 organizations working for reform in the Virginia Department of Corrections. The network was formed by those who are or were incarcerated and prison reform activists with the goal of creating justice and a voice for incarcerated individuals and their families.

“We’re not just looking for legislative reform. What we want is a total transformation of the system,” said Margaret Breslau, co-founder of the Virginia Prison Justice Network. “And in order to do that, prisoners and their family members have to have a seat at the table.”

State Sen. Joseph D. “Joe” Morrissey, a Democrat who represents Petersburg, Hopewell and parts of Richmond and the counties of Chesterfield, Prince George and Dinwiddie, attended the rally. He is chief patron of multiple parole reform bills.

“We abolished parole in ’95 and it did nothing but only eviscerate people’s chances and feelings that there’s hope or there’s a light at the end of the tunnel,” Sen. Morrissey said. “If we want to incentivize prisoners to take advantage of courses, get an education and become purposeful when they’re released, we’ve got to get involved.”

(Sen. Morrissey served three months of a six-month sentence in the Henrico County Jail after being convicted in 2014 of a misdemeanor of contributing to the delinquency of minor. Then a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, he became the first legislator to commute from jail to the General Assembly. He has since married the woman, a former receptionist at his former law office.)

Dispatches from behind bars

Several inmate letters were read at the rally, including a letter from Hassan Shabazz, co-founder of the Prisoner of Conscience and Virginia Prison Justice Network, urging people to take action and speak up against inmate inequities.

“We cannot be satisfied with what we perceive as victories where no meaningful change has taken place,” Mr. Shabazz wrote. “On the inside, we must do our part to qualify ourselves for a second chance. And on the outside, we need those who believe in second chances to make that presence felt at the General Assembly.”

Dale Pughsley, also known as Askari Danso and co-founder of the Prisoner of Conscience and Virginia Prison Justice Network, said black communities, mothers, children and economies are left to suffer as a result of incarceration.

“My 22 years of experience as a prisoner in Virginia teaches me that prisons house poor, uneducated blacks, many of whom also have mental illnesses,” Mr. Pughsley wrote. “Most of these men and women are thought of as incapable of contributing to the modern knowledge-based economy in any real way.”

Mr. Pughsley’s letter states he came to prison at age 18 for second degree murder.

“My guidelines recommended I serve 18 years. I’ve been in prison for 22. I’m scheduled to get out in 2045,” the letter stated.

One letter was from inmates who called themselves “the captives” at Sussex I State Prison, a maximum-security facility in Waverly. Inmates wrote that prisoner-on-prisoner violence and staff turnover is extremely high, and “stabbings and inmate assaults are a regular occurrence.”

“Lack of respect for prisoners, by guards and administrators, as well as the ability to communicate with us on a professional level is extremely high,” the letter stated.

A volley of profanity, including racial slurs, followed to indicate the common language staff uses to communicate with prisoners.

Julie Calajan, identified as an inmate at the Central Virginia Correctional Unit in Chesterfield, said in a letter the incarceration system “doesn’t rehabilitate, it debilitates,” and that there are many shortcomings at smaller prison facilities.

“Incarceration is no more a deterrence for crime than cancer warning labels are a deterrence for smokers,” Ms. Calajan’s letter stated. “Incarceration is a warehousing and indentured servant system.”

Carvonza Teasley, identified as a prisoner at Buckingham Correctional Center, asked in a letter to restore the parole process in Virginia and said there is job discrimination within the institutions.

“We can barely provide for ourselves, which prohibits us from providing for our families in a time of need,” the letter stated. “How is this possible when we are working real jobs that will pay more than minimum wage in society?”

Advocating for proposed legislation

Advocates at the rally also called for reform for juveniles imprisoned.

“Children don’t belong in prison,” said Valerie Slater, executive director for RISE for Youth.

She spoke of her support for House Bill 551, which would mandate that children removed from their homes be put in smaller facilities of no more than 30 beds close to the minor’s community.

“We are going to stop imprisoning young people far away from their homes,” Ms. Slater said. “We’re going to stop fragmenting communities and families, and we’re going to build them instead.”

Richard Walker, founder and chief executive officer of Bridging the Gap in Virginia, voiced support for HB 32, which would expunge criminal records eight years or older for convicted felons.

Mr. Walker said this would allow more opportunities, including access to “gainful employment,” for the more than 400,000 convicted felons in the commonwealth.

Gin Carter, who helped draft HB 1532, introduced by Delegate Don Scott, a Portsmouth Democrat, hopes to expand the earned sentence credit system.

“Right now everyone behind bars has to serve at least 85 percent of their sentence, and they get that tiny bit off for basically behaving and learning and working,” Ms. Carter said. “This bill would expand that so that they can earn even more time off. And it would make it so that by maintaining good behavior over time, then they’ll get to earn even more time.”

Ms. Carter started the Humanization Project with her partner, who she said was wrongfully convicted. Ms. Carter said the organization helps humanize those behind bars in the public eye in an effort to aid criminal justice reform.

Janet “Queen Nzinga” Taylor of the Defenders for Freedom, Justice and Equality concluded the rally by urging the crowd to spread awareness and information concerning prison and criminal justice reform.

“Knowledge does no good when you keep it to yourself,” Ms. Taylor said.

A meeting was held after the rally at Second Baptist Church at 1400 Idlewood Ave. to continue discussions for change and to hear more inmate stories.

Proposed criminal justice reform legislation

Earlier this month, Gov. Ralph S. Northam unveiled his criminal justice reform proposals that include decriminalizing simple possession of marijuana by fining violators instead as a means to combat disproportionate rates of arrests in communities of color.

The American Civil Liberties Union does not support the measure and, instead, wants to see a full repeal of the prohibition on marijuana.

The governor’s other proposals, if approved, also would:

• Raise the threshold for felony theft or grand larceny to $1,000, still short of the Virginia State Conference NAACP’s call for a $1,500 threshold. In 2018, the governor won bipartisan support to finally raise the threshold from $250 to $500.

• Raise from 14 to 16 the age at which juvenile offenders can automatically be charged as an adult.

• Allow prison inmates to pay off court fines and fees they owe by performing community service, reducing the debt they would face when they are released.

• Reinstate parole eligibility for inmates age 50 and older who have served 20 years and for those 55 and older who have served 15 years; for inmates who are permanently disabled or terminally ill; and for inmates sentenced between 1995, when parole was abolished, and 2000, when courts finally began instructing juries about parole abolition.