~ On DOJ proposed consent decree resolving Hampton Roads Regional Jail investigation ~

RICHMOND (August 5, 2020) – Attorney General Mark R. Herring issued the following statement on the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division’s proposed consent decree resolving the Hampton Roads Regional Jail investigation. Attorney General Herring requested a DOJ investigation in 2016 after the deaths of Jamycheal Mitchell and Henry Clay Stewart, Jr. and after his attempts to encourage transparency and accountability were rebuffed by the jail.

“This proposed consent decree is a step in the right direction as HRRJ works to ensure the safety and health of their inmates, especially those with mental illness. The conditions the Department of Justice detailed in their report should not exist in this or any other facility in Virginia. I initially requested this investigation because the Hampton Roads community deserved answers about how this facility was being run, especially following the deaths of Jamycheal Mitchell and Henry Clay Stewart, Jr. I hope that HRRJ and other facilities around the Commonwealth will reevaluate the ways that they treat inmates and make any needed improvements.”

BACKGROUND

On September 2, 2016, Attorney General Herring wrote to then-U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch and requested “that the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division initiate a pattern and practice investigation into whether there are systemic violations of the Constitution or federal law occurring at the Hampton Roads Regional Jail (HRRJ) in Portsmouth, Virginia, specifically whether inmates at the HRRJ are receiving the proper medical care, sufficient in nature timeliness, and extent, to satisfy the minimum standards mandated by the Eighth Amendment ad the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution.”

The DOJ Civil Rights Division’s report found “reasonable cause to believe that conditions at the Jail violate the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution,” “reasonable cause to believe that the Jail fails to provide constitutionally adequate medical and mental health care to prisoners,” and “reasonable cause to believe that the Jail violates the ADA by denying prisoners with mental health disabilities access to services, programs, and activities because of their disabilities.” 

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