Virginia Redemption Project: expanding NACDL’s return to freedom project

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The Virginia Redemption Project launched in August 2020, through a joint commitment and shared resources from the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), ACLU of Virginia, Justice Forward VA, Legal Aid Justice Center, and the Virginia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (VACDL). The primary purpose of the project is to match currently incarcerated individuals with pro bono lawyers to assist them in completing their clemency petitions. Having counsel through the clemency process greatly increases the chances of success, and the joint effort hopes to ensure that those who are most at risk of illness from COVID-19 and who cannot afford a lawyer have access to meaningful review.

People who are incarcerated are facing a major crisis. The virus is rapidly spreading in Virginia’s prison facilities, and incarcerated people are unable to take measures to safely socially distance or protect themselves from COVID-19. On April 22, 2020, the Virginia General Assembly passed a budget amendment authorizing the Virginia Department of Corrections (VDOC) to grant early release to some incarcerated individuals who had less than one year remaining on their sentence in light of the virus. While this has brought relief to some individuals, many more individuals who can be safely released remain incarcerated.

In May 2020, a lawsuit brought by the ACLU of Virginia and Charlottesville attorney Elliott Harding relating to the continued confinement of individuals at high risk due to the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a settlement agreement. The agreement (Whorley, et al. v. Northam, et al.) not only addressed health care and hygiene needs of those being held, but promised expanded and expedited review of petitions for conditional pardons. Additionally, as a result of the settlement agreement the Governor and Secretary of the Commonwealth have agreed to prioritize conditional pardons and to actively identify and expedite consideration of petitions that reference medical concerns in light of COVID-19. While the remedial measures in the settlement provide hope for post-sentencing relief for thousands of vulnerable people at high risk, neither the settlement nor the legislature has provided any funding, resources, or other mechanisms to provide representation to those seeking release. This coalition was formed to address this need.

As the virus has continued to sweep through Virginia’s prisons, jails, and detention centers, The Virginia Redemption Project will help move the Commonwealth in the right direction by ensuring meaningful review for many more people who should be released. Advocates of the project believe the initiative may even lend to data that supports belief that early release in general creates no risk to public safety. Virginia is an outlier among the fifty states in its lack of meaningful release options for sick and elderly prisoners, especially as it relates to risk of serious illness and death due to COVID-19.

While Virginia recognizes three types of pardons, this project will initially focus only on conditional pardons, which are only available to people who are currently incarcerated. A conditional pardon is an act by the Governor to modify or end a sentence imposed by the court. The Governor only grants a conditional pardon when there is substantial evidence of extraordinary circumstances to warrant it. Through this project, individuals who are interested in receiving assistance with a conditional pardon based on identified criteria will be screened. Those individuals who match specific criteria with be matched with pro bono attorneys to assist them in completing their petition. And throughout the process, the project will provide counsel and support to the pro bono attorney. The outcomes of conditional pardon petitions submitted through this project will be closely tracked as well.

Through NACDL’s extensive experience in supporting clemency and compassionate release projects, including Clemency Project 2014 during the Obama Administration, the NACDL/FAMM State Clemency Project, the Compassionate Release Clearinghouse, as well as other initiatives that are a part of NACDL’s Return to Freedom Project, NACDL is uniquely positioned to help with these efforts. The project is being managed entirely through the NACDL website.

If you are seeking the assistance of the Project, please click here.

If you are an attorney licensed to practice in Virginia, a paralegal, or law student and you would like to volunteer to take on one or more petitions through the Project, please click here.

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