THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, September 27, 1994 TAG: 9409270329
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LAURA LAFAY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines
As the General Assembly ponders ending parole in Virginia, roughly one third of the state's 20,000 prisoners are confined to their cells, eating cold meals shoved through slots and limited to one shower a week.
The lockdowns of eight prisons since early August have been an effort to staunch a wave of inmate unrest that crested Sept. 19, when Gov. George Allen convened a special session of the legislature to consider his plan to abolish parole.
On that day, inmates at Greensville Correctional Center set fires in two prison buildings, rushed into an exercise yard and knocked down a fence. About 175 prisoners occupied the yard until officers and dogs forced them back into their cells, correction officials said. Two inmates were hurt.
As the smoke cleared in Greensville, more fires were set at another prison: Haynesville Correctional Center in Richmond County. When inmates at Haynesville refused to stand for count, officials locked down the prison.
As of Monday, inmate life returned to normal at Haynesville and neighboring Buckingham Correctional Center, according to Jim Jones, executive assistant to Department of Corrections director Ron Angelone. But Powhatan, Mecklenburg, Nottaway and Brunswick correctional centers remain locked down.
A kitchen knife is missing at Powhatan, and weapons were recently discovered at Mecklenburg, Jones said.
In recent weeks at Nottaway, officers said they foiled an escape plot, an attack on guards and a sit-in protest of Allen's plan to end parole.
At Greensville on Friday, inmates hit Sgt. Anthony Henny over the head with a flashlight and then knifed him in the back. Henny has been released from a hospital and is doing well, Jones said.
A correctional officer who works at Nottaway - where 1,074 inmates are crammed into a prison designed to hold 850 - described frustrated prisoners stopping up toilets to cause flooding and setting fires in the day rooms by throwing trash, lighter fluid and matches out of their cells.
``They're throwing bars of soap and containers of juice at the officers,'' he said. ``And a lot of them are complaining about the food - how it's cold and it's being served late.''
According to Lillian Abrams, an area director of a state employees organization that includes corrections officers, the inmate unrest is a response to Allen's plan to end parole, known as Proposal X.
The low rate of parole being granted by Allen's new parole board is also a factor, she said. Virginia's parole rate has dipped from 40 percent to less than 10 percent.
``It isn't safe for the inmates and it isn't safe for us (correctional officers),'' said Abrams, who represents the Virginia Association of State Employees.
``The prisons are understaffed. If the governor is serious about Proposal X, then we need to have sufficient staffing. Double-bunking (a major component of the Allen plan) is also a problem.
``If you're violent and you've got a 50-year sentence, what are you going to do? You're going to get more and more hostile. Inmates hurt each other. And if you're so violent that you need to be kept away from society, why would anyone stick you in a bunk with someone else?''
Inmate advocates, such as the American Civil Liberties Union, also object to double-bunking.
``This is what happens,'' said Julie McConnell, assistant director of the Virginia chapter of the ACLU. ``If you treat people like animals, sometimes they start to act like animals.''
McConnell said most of the inmate demonstrations against Proposal X have been nonviolent. Allen administration officials are exaggerating about the incidents to further their own goals, she said.
``I think they feel it's in their best interest to represent people who are incarcerated as violent, evil people who, the minute they get out of prison, are going to hurt you and rape and pillage in our communities,'' said McConnell.
``So I can understand why they would try to portray these disturbances as an example of what they mean. But the truth is, 40 percent of the people incarcerated are non-violent offenders, and another 40 percent are drug offenders.''
Allen has denied that the recent unrest is connected to Proposal X.
The General Assembly reconvenes today in Richmond. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
Map
PRISONS ON LOCKDOWN
1. Nottaway
2. Powhatan
3. Brunswick
4. Mecklenburg
5. Greensville
6. Buckingham
7. Haynesville
KEYWORDS: PRISONS VIRGINIA by CNB