Just say ‘yes’

The proposed reconfiguration of Buford Middle School was the subject of headlines and hand-wringing for much of the past year, until Charlottesville City Council arrived at a less expensive solution to allow that project to proceed. Now, another long-overdue renovation of a public facility—the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail—is on the table, and questions about the cost […]

‘This is a nightmare’

“This is very unhealthy in here for all,” reads one letter. “No one deserves this kind of punishment.”  In dozens of letters written over a period of months, people incarcerated at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail reported that shoddy COVID containment procedures, poor general hygiene, and strict visitation policies have plagued the facility. These complaints are […]

In brief: Coronavirus clusters, CRB concerns, and more

Rogers that A statue of an old racist general in Charlottesville has once again been recontextualized—UVA’s George Rogers Clark monument was splattered with an impressive arc of red paint in the middle of the night on Sunday. Clark was a general during the United States’ violent westward expansion in the 19th century. The statue shows […]

Zero crimes, zero cases: Charlottesville’s progressive pandemic response has long-term implications

  As the pandemic took hold in mid-March, Charlottesville and Albemarle’s criminal justice decision-makers started letting people out of jail. Two months in, it looks like the emergency measures have paid off: The Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail has not reported a single coronavirus case among inmates, and those transferred to house arrest have not posed any […]

In brief: Capsized cop, jail board booed, and another Tar-jay?

Another Tar-jay? Local mogul Coran Capshaw’s Riverbend Development has plans for the former Kmart shopping center on Hydraulic, now known as Hillsdale Place. The company went before the Planning Commission May 14 for entrance corridor approval (after C-VILLE went to press). The plans keep the existing footprint of the center that’s been closed since 2017. […]

Unequal justice: City and county seek feedback on criminal justice disparities

To the list of racial disparities in Charlottesville and Albemarle County, we can add arrest rates: According to a new study, African Americans are booked at significantly higher rates than whites at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail, and the greatest disproportionality occurs during felony arrests. This is a national problem—black adults are 5.9 times more likely […]

YOU issue: Who’s in jail?

Here’s what readers asked for: Pick one day and find out in Charlottesville and Albemarle County the name of everyone locked up in the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail on that day, the reason they are there, and their anticipated release date.—Catherine Wray With close to 500 inmates in the regional jail, we pretty quickly nixed the […]

Overflow meeting: ICE calls continue

After months of thousands of community members urging the authority board at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail to stop voluntarily reporting the release dates of undocumented immigrants to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the board held a special meeting September 13 to take a revote on that policy. At the local jail, and every jail in […]