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From 1995 to 2000, jurors who sentenced people to prison time in Virginia weren’t told a key piece of information: There is no parole in this state.
Advocates have long argued that many people received lengthy sentences during that time because juries incorrectly believed they would have a chance to get out early as prisoners do in many other states.
Those sentenced during that five-year span — called Fishback inmates — are now getting their first chance at parole because of new legislation passed this year.
Parole hearings for Fishback inmates have started, but some advocates and family members said the process has been slower than they anticipated.
“I had kind of hoped for … a little more progression,” said Kari Anderson, a longtime advocate for Fishback inmates and criminal justice reform measures in the state.
Democratic state legislators have proposed legislation for Fishback inmates for several years, arguing that people who were sentenced after parole was abolished but before juries were specifically told that should be allowed to have a hearing in front of the Parole Board.
Legislation efforts repeatedly failed. But after Democrats took control of the House and Senate in 2019, the bill passed this year and was signed into law by Gov. Ralph Northam.
[ Previous coverage: Lawmakers give 300 Virginia inmates their first chance at parole ]
It was previously believed that roughly 300 people were Fishback inmates, named after the state Supreme Court case of Richard David Fishback, which required that juries be told parole no longer exists.
But Parole Board Chairwoman Tonya Chapman said this month that about 549 people have been identified as possible Fishback inmates. The board has been working with the Department of Corrections to find the cases, she said.
The new law went into effect in late April, and the Parole Board began interviews in May. By mid-December, the board will have completed about 150 interviews, Chapman wrote in an email.
So far, eight Fishback inmates have been granted parole, she said.
“There are others that may have been Fishback eligible but were approved for parole under geriatric or discretionary parole,” Chapman wrote in an email.
The legislation requires that parole interviews for Fishback inmates be scheduled by July 1, 2021.
Anderson, who has kept a database of Fishback inmates, continues to pass along to board members sentencing orders for people she believes may qualify.
She said the process has been frustrating for inmates and families, who hoped the Parole Board would have heard more cases by now. Some inmates still haven’t been notified that they’re eligible, Anderson said.
“I’m still getting emails saying, ‘I haven’t heard anything yet,’” she said.
Second chances
Tywon Briscoe is one of those still waiting.
In the mid-1990s, Briscoe was sentenced to serve 35 years in a malicious wounding case in Fairfax County. He was 18 when he was charged.
He’s now 43 and has served about 25 years.
While deliberating Briscoe’s sentence, jurors sent the judge a note asking for a definition — in number of years — of the phrase “imprisonment for life.” They also asked when the eligibility of parole would be for a 20-year sentence, court records show.
“They were of the assumption that Tywon would have been eligible for parole,” Briscoe’s fiancé, Jurmeine Samuels, told The Virginian-Pilot this month.
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The judge in the case told jurors that “imprisonment for life” meant the “plain, common definition of those words.” The judge said the jury should impose a punishment they thought was just based on the evidence and the court’s instructions, and that they were not to concern themselves with what may happen afterwards, according to court documents.
“I think it’s one of the worst situations for inmates,” Samuels said of Fishback cases. “It’s a wrong that they need to correct.”
Samuels said she has tried everything over the years to bring attention to the case. Submitting pardon petitions. Writing legislators. She’s been reaching out to the Department of Corrections for months to find out when Briscoe, currently at Wallens Ridge State Prison in southwestern Virginia, will be added to the list for a parole hearing, she said.
“It’s unacceptable — I find it crazy that they would not move any faster or allocate resources to move faster,” Samuels said.
Samuels said the U.S. is a country of second chances, but Briscoe hasn’t gotten the opportunity for a second chance, to show how he’s changed. He’s earned his GED and multiple certificates and served as a mentor behind bars, she said.
“He’s a human being,” she said.
Margaret Matray, 757-222-5216, margaret.matray@pilotonline.com