On February 3, 2010, eleven Virginia inmates filed a class action in federal court in Richmond to challenge the Virginia Parole Board’s denials of parole for inmates convicted of violent offenses solely because of the nature and circumstances of their crimes.  Virginia law requires the Board to consider several factors including the prisoner’s behavior and rehabilitation while incarcerated.  The Parole Board places almost exclusive emphasis on the nature of the crime and fails to consider the other factors.
 
This decision making process violates the guarantees of due process and fairness required by the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.  The Parole Board’s unlawful conduct has also prolonged the plaintiffs' imprisonment and caused them to serve far longer sentences than those contemplated by the law at the time the sentences were handed down prior to 1995. These results violate the ex post facto provision of the U.S. Constitution which prohibits punishment beyond that issued at the time of conviction.
 
The Virginia Institutionalized Persons Project of the Legal Aid Justice Center and a group of private attorneys concerned about Virginia’s broken parole system, including Troutman Sanders LLP, are representing the plaintiffs and the class.  The class action represents approximately 6,000 men and women incarcerated in Virginia for violent offenses committed before 1995.
 
Information relating to the case is included below:
 
Press Release
Case Summary
Plaintiffs Summary
Parole Board Facts
Burnette v. Fahey Complaint
 
Read the February 9, 2010 Washington Post story about the filing of the case here.