End Virginia's Last For-Profit Prison, Give It Back to the State

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REPORT -- LAWRENCEVILLE CORRECTIONAL CENTER: FOR-PROFIT PRISON RUN AMOK

A report on the horrific conditions at Lawrenceville Correctional Center under the mismanagment of The GEO Group.

The Lawrenceville Correctional Center is the Commonwealth’s only for-profit prison. It is clear that The GEO Group, which runs it, makes its profits by shortchanging those who are incarcerated, paying low wages, understaffing, and providing inadequate training to employees. Low staffing levels of poorly paid and untrained staff create a dangerous situation for both workers and those incarcerated. The GEO Group’s contract with the Virginia Department of Corrections expires next summer. So now is the perfect time to prepare for a change.

VICPP recommends that:

1. The Department of Corrections take over management of the Lawrenceville Correctional Center.

2. Current employees are retrained and rehired, if possible.

3. The General Assembly allocates adequate funds for the Department of Corrections to manage the prison safely.

Join us in encouraging the Department of Corrections to reclaim management of the Lawrenceville Correctional Center state prison by sending an email to Harold Clarke, Director of the Virginia Department of Corrections (VADOC). Use this simple, automated form to send an email to VADOC.

Profits should not be made off of the backs of people who are incarcerated or working in prisons. Let’s stop this practice in Virginia.

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Message

Dear Mr. Harold Clarke,

I am appalled by The GEO Group's mismanagement of the Lawrenceville Correctional Center and its blatant disregard for human life. It is clear that The GEO Group runs Lawrenceville as the only for-profit prison in the Commonwealth because it values money over human lives. There is clear evidence that GEO makes its profits by shortchanging those who are incarcerated, paying low wages, understaffing, and providing inadequate training to employees. Low staffing levels of poorly paid and untrained staff have created a dangerous situation for both workers and those incarcerated. As the GEO Group’s contract with the Virginia Department of Corrections expires next summer, now is the perfect time to prepare for a change.

We urge you to follow through on your responsibility to protect the lives of all those who are incarcerated and work in your prison facilities by doing the following:  

1.     Reclaim management of the Lawrenceville Correctional Center. 

2.     Retrain and rehire current employees, if possible. 

Thank you.