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Comment on this story<\/title><path d=\"M14 14V2H2v9.47h8.18L12.43 13ZM3 10.52V3h10v9.23l-2.5-1.66Z\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/p>\n<p>Comment<\/p>\n<p><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"teaser-content grid-center\">\n<div class=\"article-body\" data-qa=\"article-body\">\n<p data-qa=\"drop-cap-letter\" data-el=\"text\" class=\"font-copy font--article-body gray-darkest ma-0 pb-md\"><i>Timothy Rumage and Aubrey \u201cMikey\u201d Berryman are housed at Beaumont Correctional Center in Beaumont, Va. They are members of the Humanization Project.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-body\" data-qa=\"article-body\">\n<p data-qa=\"drop-cap-letter\" data-el=\"text\" class=\"font-copy font--article-body gray-darkest ma-0 pb-md\">Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin\u2019s Christian faith teaches him that whatever he has done to the least of these, he has done unto God. Yet this year, he subjected \u201cthe least of these\u201d to an act of abject cruelty, dashing the hopes of thousands of Virginia\u2019s most forgotten by reneging on a promise made two years earlier. That promise would have allowed many incarcerated people in the Department of Corrections to be released just a little bit early, provided they remained on perfect behavior and completed all programming offered to them. But in June, at Youngkin\u2019s urging, this Earned Sentence Credit law (ESC) was largely repealed, two weeks before taking effect.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-body\" data-qa=\"article-body\">\n<p data-qa=\"drop-cap-letter\" data-el=\"text\" class=\"font-copy font--article-body gray-darkest ma-0 pb-md\">What made the repeal especially galling was that in April, Youngkin lauded Virginia\u2019s criminal justice agencies for their rehabilitation and reentry services, <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.governor.virginia.gov\/newsroom\/proclamations\/proclamation-list\/second-chance-month.html\" rel=\"noopener\">proclaiming April \u201cSecond Chance Month<\/a>.\u201d Youngkin explicitly acknowledged that the vast majority of us will return to our communities \u2014 and return successfully, with the support of the very agencies he praised. Although this was at odds with Republican messaging during the 2021 campaign, it was refreshing and led some to believe he might abandon demagoguery and govern with policies informed by evidence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-body\" data-qa=\"article-body\">\n<p data-qa=\"drop-cap-letter\" data-el=\"text\" class=\"font-copy font--article-body gray-darkest ma-0 pb-md\">ESC is one of those evidence-based policies a second-chances governor should support. Research shows that <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sentencingproject.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/A-Second-Look-at-Injustice.pdf\" rel=\"noopener\">long sentences are counterproductive<\/a>, driving mass incarceration by imprisoning people long after they could safely return home. Moreover, Youngkin apparently felt the Department of Corrections was prepared for the new approach, since it claims one of the <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/vadoc.virginia.gov\/news-press-releases\/2021\/virginia-s-recidivism-rate-remains-among-the-lowest-in-the-country\/#:~:text=RICHMOND%20%E2%80%94%20Governor%20Ralph%20Northam%20today,the%20country%20at%2023.9%20percent.\" rel=\"noopener\">lowest recidivism rates in the country<\/a>. And lastly, incentives for rehabilitation simply make sense: Promoting personal development leads to better returning citizens and less recidivism.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-body\" data-qa=\"article-body\">\n<p data-qa=\"drop-cap-letter\" data-el=\"text\" class=\"font-copy font--article-body gray-darkest ma-0 pb-md\">By June, however, Youngkin\u2019s tune had changed. Rather than championing second chances, he pivoted to demonizing incarcerated people, as though we weren\u2019t even deserving of a first chance, let alone a second one. He amplified lies shared by legislators. And once the repeal succeeded, he smugly proclaimed it \u201c<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/governorva\/status\/1537977956282249217?s=21&t=b1y3hea73XcHc0sL-lzDDw\" rel=\"noopener\">a good day in Virginia\u201d for \u201cremoving violent criminals\u2019 ability to get off early and reoffend.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-body\" data-qa=\"article-body\">\n<p data-qa=\"drop-cap-letter\" data-el=\"text\" class=\"font-copy font--article-body gray-darkest ma-0 pb-md\">The repeal affected all nonviolent sentences being served by people who also had sentences for \u201cviolent\u201d crime. Although proponents claimed this would impact only 560 people, that was just those who became eligible for release on July 1. The Department of Corrections <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/entertainment-prisons-virginia-robert-ford-f8dde969ef981c58174704258e24cc54\" rel=\"noopener\">has since confirmed that the repeal renders about 8,000 people ineligible<\/a> for additional credits \u2014 about one-third of Virginia\u2019s prison population.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-body\" data-qa=\"article-body\">\n<p data-el=\"text\" class=\"font--article-body font-copy gray-darkest ma-0 pb-md font--article-body gray-darkest ma-0 pb-md\">We know prison isn\u2019t intended to be easy, but the governor\u2019s actions involved a cruelty that no one should have to endure.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-body\" data-qa=\"article-body\">\n<p data-qa=\"drop-cap-letter\" data-el=\"text\" class=\"font-copy font--article-body gray-darkest ma-0 pb-md\">Tim\u2019s daughter Emma is his pride and joy. Tim believed, based on the Department of Corrections\u2019 detailed reentry planning and letter confirming his release date, that he\u2019d be out in time to see Emma graduate from high school. Nothing would have meant more to him. But now, after the repeal, he won\u2019t be there. Worse, he\u2019ll miss yet another opportunity to support her during a formative period of her life.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-body\" data-qa=\"article-body\">\n<p data-qa=\"drop-cap-letter\" data-el=\"text\" class=\"font-copy font--article-body gray-darkest ma-0 pb-md\">As for Emma, she\u2019s heartbroken. She has witnessed her dad become a better man, owning his past, overcoming addiction, learning new professional skills and avoiding the ubiquitous \u201ctrouble\u201d on the inside. She trusted the commonwealth when it promised that people such as her dad could earn an early release. Now she doesn\u2019t know what to think. It\u2019s like the loss of his liberty wasn\u2019t punishment enough; they needed to play mind games at the very end, just to make the punishment hurt even worse.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-body\" data-qa=\"article-body\">\n<p data-qa=\"drop-cap-letter\" data-el=\"text\" class=\"font-copy font--article-body gray-darkest ma-0 pb-md\">Mikey\u2019s family is similarly devastated. Almost two decades ago, Mikey participated in a terrible plan, but even before it was complete, he felt the weight of his guilt and tried to save the victim\u2019s life. That moral burden was the beginning of his road to redemption. After he was sentenced, he devoted his time in prison to turning his former self into a stranger.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-body\" data-qa=\"article-body\">\n<p data-qa=\"drop-cap-letter\" data-el=\"text\" class=\"font-copy font--article-body gray-darkest ma-0 pb-md\">After so many years working on himself simply because it was the right thing to do, the commonwealth promised to acknowledge Mikey\u2019s hard work with an earlier release. Hard time makes you guarded and expect the worst, but Mikey finally allowed himself to treat hope as reality \u2014 his second chance was truly on the horizon. Mikey planned to open a graphic design business, start a nonprofit and, most important, reconnect with family. But in June, those dreams again became just that \u2014 dreams.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-body\" data-qa=\"article-body\">\n<p data-qa=\"drop-cap-letter\" data-el=\"text\" class=\"font-copy font--article-body gray-darkest ma-0 pb-md\">Folks like us and our families aren\u2019t the only ones who will suffer from Youngkin\u2019s decision: Our communities will as well. Think about it \u2014 he didn\u2019t keep us in prison forever. He merely delayed our release, by months for some, by years for others. Either way, most are returning home relatively soon. But the incentive for rehabilitation is gone. If someone isn\u2019t self-motivated, what\u2019s in it for them? And if they don\u2019t work on themselves, they\u2019ll be less prepared to parent their children, enter the workforce, get an education, maintain a residence and stay clean \u2014 precisely the things that keep returning citizens out of poverty, out of addiction and, ultimately, out of trouble. Returning citizens who\u2019ve reformed themselves ought to be Virginia\u2019s success stories, who teach us redemption is possible. Instead, Youngkin jeopardized public safety by making incarcerated people less prepared to return home.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-body\" data-qa=\"article-body\">\n<p data-qa=\"drop-cap-letter\" data-el=\"text\" class=\"font-copy font--article-body gray-darkest ma-0 pb-md\">Youngkin\u2019s faith doesn\u2019t just teach him to care for the forgotten and vulnerable; it also has something to say about keeping one\u2019s word. According to Proverbs 11:3, \u201cThe integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.\u201d We listened to the governor during his second-chances media tour. We heard him praise rehabilitative services. We trusted him, just as we trusted the legislature in 2020. But we now know the truth \u2014 that his words were duplicitous. At the same time he promised us a second chance, he was seeking to deprive us of exactly that. We urge Youngkin and the 70 legislators who joined him to rectify the mistake they made and restore to us the hope they dashed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<section class=\"b bt bc-offblack dn-ns hide-for-print\" data-testid=\"mostRead\" subscriptions-section=\"content\"\/><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/>[ad_2]<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/2022\/08\/05\/gov-youngkin-dashed-hopes-by-reneging-his-second-chance-promise\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[ad_1] Comment on this story Comment Timothy Rumage and Aubrey \u201cMikey\u201d Berryman are housed at…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34497,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34496"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34496\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34498,"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34496\/revisions\/34498"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}