Home Articles posted by John Powers

Virginia Center for Behavioral Health Breaks Ground on Facility Expansion

By Aziza Jackson. August 17, 2018 BURKSVILLE, Va. — The Virginia Center for Behavioral Rehabilitation (VCBR) has broken new ground on an expansion project for their Burkesville facility. HDR, an international design and architecture firm based in Omaha, Neb., signed on to design the expansion and renovation of the facility in 2013. The firm provided programming, planning, design, construction documents and construction-phase services for the project, and worked closely with construction company Balfour Beatty, ADTEK Engineering, Valley Engineering, GovSolutions and Stanton Fire Protection. The forthcoming facility features expanded treatment facilities and a 258-bed housing expansion, to include 185,000 square feet…

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Governor Explains Why the Minnesota Sex Offender Program Is a Crock

Defending the constitutionality of civil confinement, Mark Dayton exposes the fallacy at its core. By Jacob Sullum | 6.25.2015 11:02 AM Last week U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank ruled that the Minnesota Sex Offender Program (MSOP), which civilly confines people after they have completed their criminal sentences, violates the 14th Amendment’s Due Process Clause. Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton disagrees, but his defense of the program exposes the fallacy at its core. “It’s really impossible to predict whether or not [sex offenders] are at risk to reoffend,” Dayton says. “So the more protection you can give to the public, as far as I’m concerned, given their…

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“Release American Citizens from Double Jeopardy Punishment”

The following post is from a letter to Virginia State Delegate Jennifer Carroll-Foy from Dr. Bernida Thompson.  Dear Delegate Jennifer Carroll-Foy, You were great on the June 3rd Townhall. I appreciate your vigor for justice, especially for people of color.  I am an African American citizen, and my family along with countless others that are in your area are crippled by the unjust civil commitment law which keeps our sons, fathers, husbands, and loved ones tied up indefinitely with physical and psychological punishment for imaginary future sex crimes that they might commit.  I join the townhalls, and I bring attention…

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Shadow Prisoner Stabbed 14 Times at VCBR Facility

By John Powers. Jun 12, 2020 On the day of June 11, 2020 a person being held at the Virginia Center for Behavioral Rehabilitation (VCBR) stabbed a fellow inmate fourteen times during their line up for their daily pill calls. The victim was stabbed behind the ear and back repeatedly. The victim was soon rushed to a nearby hospital to get stitches. Piedmont Regional Jail has the alleged assailant being held on assault by wounding with stab cut wounds and he is also charged with a misdemeanor according to officer D Wade.  The alleged assailant was transferred from VCBR to…

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Obscure New Jersey “Treatment” Facility Has a Higher COVID-19 Death Rate Than Any Prison in the Country

By: Jordan Michael Smith. Jun 04, 2020 The detainees already completed their criminal sentences—but they are prevented from leaving for years. And with the coronavirus spreading, their lives are at risk. This story was produced in collaboration with Type Investigations. With its innocuous name, the Special Treatment Unit (STU) sounds like a hospital. It’s a building in Avenel, New Jersey, housing 441 “residents,” as it calls them. It has what state officials have described as a “comprehensive treatment program” with cognitive behavioral therapy delivered by mental health experts. But the STU is actually a prison in all but name—it’s run by the…

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