VA Politics Explainer: What's the VA Parole Board?

You’ve probably been hearing a lot about problems at Virginia’s Parole Board. There is a lot there that maybe I will go into elsewhere. But you may have some more basic questions, like: what’s a parole board? And what was it SUPPOSED to be doing?

If you are lucky enough to not be embroiled in the criminal justice system, you probably know about parole mostly from TV and movies. (“Rehabilitated? You know, I don’t have any idea what that means.”) But the Parole Board is more than a fiction, and has real and important effects on people’s lives.

So again, what is Virginia’s Parole Board all about?

First, let’s start with a reminder: there are many levels and types of incarceration. JAILS are typically local affairs, run by city or county, where suspected criminals are detained while waiting for trial. (It’s worth noting that most jail residents are technically innocent, so there’s significant problems with that part of our justice system.) PRISONS handle longer-term warehousing of convicted criminals serving out sentences. There are federal and state prisons, depending on whether you are convicted of federal or state crimes (and tried in federal or state courts).

So: VA’s state prisons house folks convicted of crimes in a Virginia court, and that’s what we’re concerned about here.

So then, what exactly is parole, and how does it work? The basic idea, which goes back at least to 1800s England, is simple: if a prisoner behaves well, they can be rewarded with early release. Parole should be distinguished from probation, which is supervised behavior of convicted criminals INSTEAD of prison time, to show incarceration is not necessary.

But in order to determine good behavior, the idea grew that some specialized group would need to evaluate prisoners apart from the corrections staff. (There’s a whole line of sociocultural theory that argues this is part of a shift in criminal justice from punishing bodies to reshaping souls, if you want to fall down that rabbit hole.) And so many states created parole boards, often with mixes of various experts and laypeople, to determine which prisoners would be paroled.

Virginia’s Parole Board was established in 1942, with 5 members appointed by the Governor. Three of these, including the chair, are full-time. So this is a job for at least some of them - and a well-paying one. Vice Chair Linda Bryant, who just stepped down to become a judge, was paid over $120k in 2020. Part-time members can be paid as much as $59/hour.

Traditionally, lawyers make up most of the board, but the current makeup of Virginia’s Board is a little more diverse, including a former police chief, a former corrections officer (and Roanoke City Councilmember), and a minister. The just-departed Bryant was a lawyer; presumably her replacement appointment has been delayed by the current scandal. VA Governor Northam was widely praised for appointing a former inmate and criminal justice reform advocate, Kemba Smith Pradia, in 2019. One member is required by law to be a “representative of a crime victims' organization or a victim of crime,” but it’s not clear if Pradia or someone else is supposed to be filling that role.

And for good or ill, the laws that govern the Board prioritizes the voices of crime victims; victims and families are supposed to be notified of all upcoming hearings, and given the chance to weigh in on the merits of parole. That’s actually where the current scandal comes from: the Board appears to have violated its own guidelines, and maybe even laws, about those notifications, and then did little to explain later. (As usual, “the cover-up is worse than the crime.”)

Ironically, the Parole Board has gotten so much attention while its job has been greatly diminished in recent years. The VA General Assembly actually banned parole for many offense as part of the 1990s hysteria about rising crime and 'super-predators.' Only those convicted of major crimes before 1995 are still eligible, so the majority of cases the VA Board handles cover people who have been in prison for decades.

In the end, the Parole Board serves an important function in our criminal justice system, but acts as one of these technical roles that mostly happens outside of public eye – until something goes wrong. Now people are definitely much more aware. As someone who values democratic accountability, my hope is that the exposure will be good for the Board. No matter what, you can be sure that you will be hearing much more about it in the months to come, especially in this election year.