Update: Virginia DOC, Mental health, Medical and Other, today is February 10th, 2026, and the hits just keep on coming in the Virginia Department of Corrections, where it is overwhelmingly clear that no one is safe from state inflicted harm. The Virginia Model.
On February 6th, an autistic man was removed from building 4A at Haynesville. His needs had been openly ignored for months as he had one minor crisis after the next. This is in an open dorm environment; 80 people crammed into a space that would be uncomfortable for twenty people. The autistic man finally lost it all together, and much to the twisted pleasure of the Virginia DOC staff, he was put into solitary confinement – not gonna help the situation.
The attacks on those who are newer neurodivergent are increasing. Haynesville, violating yet another operating procedure, 4841.6 as well as those needs of mental health care denied outside recreation for weeks. Check out the previous commentary I just left. They used four inches of snow and a half inch of ice to justify it, even as they clearly had sand and salt to spare, evident from the piles across concrete boulevards across the compound. As I regularly provide details and accounts, it is consistent with the Virginia Model of harm and destroy. This seems especially true and obvious where administration is of concern.
The unit manager of 4A at Haynesville is a prime example of this, and I can show documentation of a false charge as well as an illegal contract imposed on a captive. Those documents have been safely stored at home with my parents. These are the reasons, amid myriad others, that fewer and fewer people expect to leave prison alive in Virginia. I know this personally, as I myself am walking on an edge.
Today, February 10th, as ordered by the new Virginia director, weights have been taken away. Once again, we see that harm, not help, hope and heath is the hallmark of the Virginia DOC. As we noted in a previous report, the new director is a longtime DOC insider, or to put it more succinctly, part of the problems and the resulting failure of the Virginia DOC. He should be considered a threat to the families and communities of Virginia. There has been no legitimate justification for the removal of the weights; basically petty tyranny.
More fun updates include the open threat of institutional infractions against jailhouse lawyers, specifically for helping others fight their cases or for pushing legal actions in defense of their unalienable rights. This is as usual, in violation of the precedent set forth in the United States Supreme Court. You can see Johnson v. Avery, Supreme Court, 1969, which was held in accord by Bear v. Kautzky, Eighth Circuit, 2002. And that Kautzky, is spelled K-A-U-T- Z-K-Y.
There is an operating procedure that says jailhouse lawyers cannot bill you for the work. Most don’t charge because they recognize just how corrupt and broken the system is, especially in Virginia, and without us working on it, that is jailhouse lawyers, there’s almost no relief to be found. I literally have a stack of state documents proving my conviction is wrong and in so many ways. And I have legal [uclear] showing my local court has jurisdiction and I have the prosecutor now on email telling people the exact opposite of that fact,
Along with the severe mental anguish being imposed upon the captives of the Virginia DOC, which does amount to torture, there are ongoing medical deprivations. Recently, one captive was refused his insulin. This is beyond insane, and I was recently told that my Tylenol, needed for brain injury related chronic headaches, had to be renewed. That process could take literally weeks, causing me to live in far worse pain than – that I cannot manage. Tylenol is a simple over the counter medicine. It is the best option, since getting to see proper medical experts is not only difficult, but often comes with excessive trauma during the transport routine, which can include damaging physical trauma from chains and shackles.
The Winter Olympics began, and if you witnessed the opening ceremonies, peace was the theme. I commend Italy. It was a beautiful opening ceremony. I can tell you that even as the Virginian Ilia Malinin, sets new standards in ice skating, Virginians who staff the VADOC are destroying peace and encouraging conflict, and they’re corrupting community members and causing daily traumatic harm. The Virginia Model is about that destruction and harm. And if you work for the Virginia DOC, I tell you you should seek employment elsewhere. Don’t support the great lie of the Virginia DOC. Virginia is not so civilized a place, and how ironic. We all had such hope that the Virginia General Assembly would finally fix the problems. Once again, hope has failed, and there is no peace in Virginia.
My name is David Annarelli, I’m a contributing writer at prisonjournalismproject.org, davidannarelli.wordpress.com. You can Google my name and find my writing everywhere. And just another reminder, February 28, 1pm the Byrd Theater in Richmond, All That’s Left, documentary about the Virginia Model, which is the judicial system and the prison system that’s destroying families everywhere. Thank you very much.
These commentaries are recorded by Prison Radio.
