Since its inception, the VIP Project has received thousands of letters from inmates in Virginia’s prisons and jails describing problems they face.  These problems include: grossly inadequate and sometimes improper health care; racism permeating staff-prisoner relations; inadequate access to legal resources; a failed prison grievance system; mistreatment of  inmates with mental health impairments; a broken parole system; and denial of First Amendment rights such as the right to receive attorney mail and the right to attend worship services.  The claims made in these inmate letters are substantiated by communications from inmate families, friends, and other attorneys, as well as, at times, correctional staff.

The VIP Project’s limited resources mean that we cannot represent each individual prisoner nor can we find volunteer attorneys for every prisoner. Instead, we have initiated several projects designed to improve the system as a whole for all Virginia prisoners.  In partnership with Troutman Sanders LLP, we filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of 6,000 Virginia “old law” prisoners who are being denied fair review of their suitability for release by the Virginia Parole Board.  Read more about the parole case here.  In partnership with Wiley Rein LLP and the DC Prisoners’ Project of the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights & Urban Affairs, we are investigating the quality of health care services made available to the 1200 inmates at Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women.  We also have investigated and exposed human and civil rights violations at Fluvanna—resulting in a change of prison administration.

Working with Virginia C.U.R.E., the VIP Project brought together, for the first time, prisoners’ rights organizations from throughout Virginia to launch an initiative mobilizing the families and friends of Virginia’s incarcerated.  As part of our efforts to educate the public about Virginia’s prisons, in October, 2009, we presented Incarceration Nation at the Paramount Theatre in Charlottesville which featured Master of Ceremonies, John Grisham, moderating an informative panel discussion on the state of conditions in Virginia’s prisons.

If you are a Virginia-barred attorney, or a paralegal, and are interested in volunteering for the VIP Project, please contact Helen Trainor, (434) 977-0553 x139, helen@justice4all.org.