Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality

Updates & Announcements   A service of  THE VIRGINIA DEFENDER   newspaper.  Editorial Board: Ana Edwards & Phil Wilayto Sept. 24, 2020 On this date in 1973, Guinea-Bissau declared its independence from Portugal.  The declaration was recognized almost a year later on Sept. 10, 1974. Sat., Sept. 26 -  PEOPLE FIRST FISH FRY 1-4 pm at the Marcus-David Peters Circle, Monument and North Allen avenues, Richmond.  Join  Justice and Reformation for Marcus-David Peters  along with their partners for a People First Fish Fry, community day, and meet-up with Justice and Reformation’s 2020 endorsed candidates for Richmond City Council. “We’re raising up local leaders who put people over profit. Hear their vision for community care and real, people-first public safety. Supporting partners for this event: Richmond Action Alliance; Richmond For All; RVA26; Santos en Virginia; Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice, & Equality; Virginia Poor People’s Campaign. #TimeForChangeRichmondVA - On

More than 50 cars circled in front of the Richmond city jail in April to demand the early release of inmates because of the coronavirus pandemic. Photo by Phil Wilayto THE COVID-19 RICHMOND JAIL CRISIS THAT COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED By Phil Wilayto for The Virginia Defender RICHMOND, VA, Sept. 8 -- “Some terrible mistake was made along the way.” That was how a federal judge described the recent massive COVID-19 outbreak at a private immigrant detention center in Farmville, Va., the result of officials transferring a large number of detainees from Arizona and Florida without first quarantining them. The same words could describe the coronavirus crisis at the Richmond city jail, where one out of every eight inmates now has the disease. Back on April 27, Sheriff Antionette Irving told this reporter that no inmates at the jail yet had been tested for COVID-19. By that date, Virginia already had reported 13,535 cases, with 2,066 people hospitalized and 458 deaths. Irving explained that her po