This is an open letter to Virginia Senator Mike Jones. Today is January 26, 2026.
Senator Mike Jones is one of Virginia’s General Assembly members and at the forefront of addressing the issues of abuse and impropriety in the Virginia Department of Corrections [DOC}, specifically at Red Onion. In recent times, Senator Jones was among many pushing back against the rubber stamp investigation, term used loosely, handled by the Office of the State Inspector General. There was never any doubt that the State agency would clear the Virginia DOC of any wrongdoing. That has been the usual response for decades, and is the lead into this report.
Senator Mike Jones, allow me to inform you and your colleagues of the harsh truth. It is not just Red Onion. The entire Virginia DOC is bereft of goodness, built on deprivations and devoid of any noteworthy measure of humanity. I speak with some authority, having been shuffled through five prisons of varying levels during my decade of now proven unlawful incarceration. I’ve been beaten by staff at Pocahontas years ago, tortured for months at Green Rock, denied proper medical and mental health care at all of these five prisons. All of this has been documented, my complaints shared with groups such as the Coalition for Justice and Interfaith Action for Human Rights, along with thousands of pages of writings plastered all over the net and letters to almost everyone.
Senator, the Virginia DOC is decidedly making Virginians less safe in every way. The Virginia Model is one of sociopathic staff who seem to thrive on issuing endless punishment that is in every way extra judicial and contrary to healing communities, likewise, those very few staff who are not attracted to unrestrained powers to harm also end up navigating the traumas they witness and, by extension, suffer as well. All of this at a cost of 1.5 billion tax dollars annually, 27% of the entire state budget. Senator Mike Jones, I challenge you to review my words and a decade of documentation I’ve collected, and the words of others I have continued to log improprieties by staff, even after being subjected to harsh retaliation, including recently, for which I’ve now filed a lawsuit: Case Number 126 CV 00054, at the Eastern District Federal Court.
I challenge you to hear my family and the advocates recount the barrage of horror stories I’ve told – a litany of rights violations and abuses. Senator, I dare you to take your courage to the next level. I demand a real reform of the Virginia DOC. The recent appointment of a long time Virginia DOC insider as the director does not lend to confidence for a better tomorrow. The lack of any real justice reform bills being introduced does not foster hope. That no one has mentioned the approximate 20% rate of wrongful convictions, like Pew Charitable Trust Survey, and the highest in the United States; and approximately 4500 plus captives, no relief can be had, presupposes more captives choosing to cause themselves harm. If a decade of documented problems can so easily be ignored, perhaps more of us should set ourselves alight.
Senator, I challenge you and your colleagues to decide how you will treat the least of us. Change was needed long ago, and still we see nothing ahead. For those who doubt, see Manufacturing Criminals by Bonnie Burkhardt and many other titles about Virginia and its DOC. My name is David Annarelli. I’m a contributing writer at prisonjournalismproject.org, davidannarelli.wordpress.com, you can find me on Instagram. Google my name for more. Thank you very much.
These commentaries are recorded by Prison Radio.
