Take action today to protect funding in FY13 for the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act (MIOTCRA).  The program received $10 million in FY09; $12 million in FY10; $9.9 million in FY11; and $9 million in FY12.  Send a letter to your delegation today or click here
for more information about the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act.

As Congress begins work on the fiscal year 2013 funding bills, it is critical that members understand the widespread support for the Second Chance Act across the country.  Please contact your Members of Congress to express your support of funding for the Second Chance Act in FY13.

What You Can Do:

1. Contact your Members of Congress and ask them to support funding for the Second Chance Act.
2. Click here to learn more about the Second Chance Act.

SB 6 patroned by Sen. Stephen Martin passed (20-Y 20-N) the Senate Chair-Lt. Governor-voted “Yes”. The House HB 73 was continued to 2013 (defeated) by a voice vote in Appropriations.

Urge your Delegate to oppose SB 6 when it crosses over to the House!

By requiring substance abuse screening of all Virginia Initiative for Employment not Welfare Program applicants, the government is treating potential recipients of public assistance as criminals, invading their privacy, and denying benefits to those who may most need them.

It turns out Fred Quayle’s- separation from state government service will be short-lived.
Gov. Bob McDonnell has named the former state senator from Suffolk to the Virginia Parole Board, an appointment with a four-year term and a $52,000 annual salary.

Quayle’s 20-year career in the Senate ended after he declined to seek re-election last November. He made that decision after he and a fellow Republican senator, Chesapeake’s Harry Blevins, were drawn together in Democrats’ redistricting plan.

Quayle, 75, is the newest addition to the five-member Parole Board, which can grant, deny or revoke parole and detain parole violators. It also has the power to give early release to geriatric inmates.
Out of the roughly 30,500 Virginia prison inmates, about 4,800 remain eligible for parole because they were incarcerated before the state abolished it in 1995.

Full Story, PilotOnline.com

By David Sherfinski

“We’re a nation of second chances,” says Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, a
Republican, of his belief in restoring voting rights to ex-convicts. “Everybody
makes mistakes. But if you want to fix your problem and be a productive citizen,
we want to help.” (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

RICHMOND — Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, in the first two years of his term, has
restored the voting rights of more than 2,500 ex-convicts — putting the former
prosecutor and state attorney general on pace to eclipse both of his Democratic
predecessors.

Mr. McDonnell, who on the campaign trail promised to enact the “fastest and
fairest” rights-restoration process in Virginia history, has been living up to
his pledge. His office makes decisions on applications within 60 days and fully
briefs prisoners on the requirements to apply.

“We know that almost 95 percent of the people that we send to prison are getting
out,” the Republican governor said. “So if we don’t make at least part of what
we’re aiming at: ‘What do we do with those people that get out?’ then we’re
missing part of the law.”

“We’re a nation of second chances,” he said. “Everybody makes mistakes. ...]]> Va. Gov. McDonnell leads way in restoring ex-cons’ rights

By David Sherfinski

“We’re a nation of second chances,” says Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, a
Republican, of his belief in restoring voting rights to ex-convicts. “Everybody
makes mistakes. But if you want to fix your problem and be a productive citizen,
we want to help.” (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

RICHMOND — Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, in the first two years of his term, has
restored the voting rights of more than 2,500 ex-convicts — putting the former
prosecutor and state attorney general on pace to eclipse both of his Democratic
predecessors.

Mr. McDonnell, who on the campaign trail promised to enact the “fastest and
fairest” rights-restoration process in Virginia history, has been living up to
his pledge. His office makes decisions on applications within 60 days and fully
briefs prisoners on the requirements to apply.

“We know that almost 95 percent of the people that we send to prison are getting
out,” the Republican governor said. “So if we don’t make at least part of what
we’re aiming at: ‘What do we do with those people that get out?’ then we’re
missing part of the law.”

“We’re a nation of second chances,” he said. “Everybody makes mistakes. But if
you want to fix your problem and be a productive citizen, we want to help.”

Full Story, Washington Times

Too many prisoners are in solitary confinement for too long: Virginia’s nearly 1,800 prisoners in isolation are confined in an 80-square-foot cell 23 hours a day, seven days a week. They typically get one hour a day for recreation five days a week, confined to a 96-square-foot, chain-link-fenced area that can be described only as a cage. They eat alone in their cells and, by design, have little, if any, interaction with others.
Full Story, Washington Post

Virginia CURE’s 20th Annual Advocacy Day
at the General Assembly

Monday, January 16, 2012
The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday

General Assembly Building, Capitol Square
9th Street between East Broad and Grace Streets
Richmond, VA 23219

8:00 am Meet in House Press Briefing Room-
8:30-3:30 Visit offices of State Senators & Delegates
and House and Senate Chambers

Lunch available in 6th floor cafeteria

3:30-4:30 pm Meet in Conference Room 4 West

Directions and information for General Assembly: http://legis.state.va.us

To R.S.V.P.and for more information. call 703-272-3624