My friend at VCBR was very close to a resident who was mistreated for 9 years there, not “cured” yet humiliated and completely torn down and made to feel worthless. He committed suicide Monday, August 5th at approximately 10pm.
VCBR is not a therapeutic treatment center as they pretend to the public. It is a high cost “cash cow” for the evaluators, therapists, and even many of the court appointed attorneys. VCBR is an awful and disgusting shadow prison where group leaders make residents feel worthless, rejected, abandoned, hopeless, and afraid. If residents don’t do and say what the group leader wants, the residents are written up and told they have thinking errors. In actuality, they mean residents are not allowed to think for themselves or have any ideas different from what the leader wants them to have. To have this form of civil commitment in the United States, a pre-crime detention that keeps men locked up after they have already served their time for a crime, is a crime against humanity.
Our vision for a just future
1. Abolish pre-crime preventative detention laws
2. Free our friends and loved ones from dehumanizing labels
3. Realign our justice system with the values of restoration and reintegration
Just Future Project is a new initiative focused on challenging pre-crime preventative detention laws. We are a people-driven grassroots advocacy campaign dedicated to building a movement of community members demanding an end to indefinite detention regimes.
Why Is This Important?
Pre-crime preventative detention systems are a dangerous departure from the traditional values of our legal system.
We believe in justice, that persons who have caused harm may be held accountable for their actions. But justice also demands proportionality and due process, elements essential to distinguish justice from mere vengeance. The goal of any true system of justice must be restoration and re-integration, not the perpetual containment and incapacitation that have come to define the U.S. criminal legal system.