This conversation originally aired on the May 4, 2025 episode of Inside Appalachia.
Inmates and their families are complaining about poor conditions and treatment at a supermax prison in Appalachian Virginia.
In Virginia, two high-security, supermax prisons are located in coal country: Wallens Ridge State Prison, near Big Stone Gap, and Red Onion, near the town of Pound.
Red Onion State Prison has been the subject of allegations by prisoners of violence, poor conditions and long stretches of solitary confinement. One of the reporters who’s been covering the story, Charlotte Rene Woods, spoke with Inside Appalachia’s Mason Adams.
Courtesy of Charlotte Rene Woods
Adams: Your story in the Virginia Mercury is headlined, “‘Dangerously understaffed:’ Inmates describe fear and violence behind Red Onion’s walls amid growing allegations of excessive force and poor conditions, a formal inquiry into the maximum-security prison is on the horizon.” For listeners who aren’t familiar, can you describe Red Onion State Prison, where it is, what it is?
Woods: Among Virginia’s criminal justice prison ecosystem, it is a supermax facility over in Wise County [in the] town of Pound area — very far west part of southwest Virginia. A lot of its residents are serving longer sentences or life sentences. It’s got tighter security, just a higher level of security being a supermax facility, but it has been a source of numerous allegations coming from inmates and family members and activists. I’ve been in touch with several people who live there, as well as their family members. Some people have spoken to me on record, some have not, so I can’t disclose any of their information, but a lot of the allegations that are stemming out of Red Onion have been general mistreatment, excessive use of force, racism, religious discrimination, prolonged use of … Virginia doesn’t call it “solitary confinement,” but just isolated housing. There have been allegations stemming from Red Onion and a few other facilities that it [isolated housing] is being used too often, too long, for too many reasons, and it can really mess with people’s mental health.
Adams: What was it that brought these complaints to light?
Woods: In 2024, a handful of inmates tampered with some electrical outlets to burn themselves. You could ask the inmates or ask the politicians or ask the D.O.C. [Virginia Department of Corrections], they’ll all have a different story. Was the self-harm protest? Was it just seeking a transfer for a transfer’s sake? Or was it a combination of things? And so initially, Virginia’s Legislative Black Caucus put out a press release right around Thanksgiving last fall, saying that 12 men had, quote, “self-immolated.” That conjures up a particular image. Department of Corrections Director Chad Dodson immediately came back with, “It was six people.” They did harm themselves. It wasn’t fully catching their entire bodies on fire, but they did burn themselves. That ignited — horrible pun intended, given the serious nature of this — but that really stemmed some political back and forth.
I’ve been documenting what allegations I’ve heard, what state lawmakers have observed, because a few people have visited. There have been, with the oversight committee, the public safety committee, some state laws that were in the works during this legislative session. I’m really getting a pulse on how many of these allegations can be proven, what might be the cause or causes, and what can the solutions be? I think that’s going to be a pivotal thing that the new corrections ombudsman, Andrea Sapone, might have to play a role in when she launches her formal investigation into Red Onion specifically.
Adams: What are you hearing in your reporting? What are inmates and their family saying?
Woods: In one particular instance, a man named Dontae Ebron reached out to me, as did his brother, Dominic. His family’s been really concerned and stressed. There was an allegation from an altercation that happened in July of 2024, where he alleged that an officer used excessive force on him, and he was maced. And in the process of that, he got slammed to the ground and suffered a head injury. He filed a formal complaint, and he sent the documents. I had him mail them to me so I could just see what we were working with here. It was deemed unfounded at the time, but he’s hoping to see video footage to confirm and put it to bed, what exactly went down. It was interesting reading the incident report, because in his letter that he wrote to me, he’s saying, “I wasn’t spitting on the officers. I was spitting in general because there was mace in my face,” and that he was reacting to that. Then in the report, it’s saying, “He was spitting on officers, so that’s why we pinned him to the ground.”
That’s just one very specific instance, but I have been in touch with a few people that have mentioned instances of racism, religious discrimination. There’s an inmate named Ekong Eshiet who’s spoken with me. He’s spoken with a few outlets. He’s alleged that certain correctional officers have mistreated him due to his Muslim faith. Those are just a few very specific examples, but I hope that encapsulates some of what is coming out of there.
Another key component that I’m looking into [as] someone who covers politics and policy and regulation is the implementation of what Virginia calls “restorative housing” and “restrictive housing.” A state law that was signed in 2023 by Gov. Glenn Youngkin does mandate that, if someone is placed in solitary, they should have X amount of hours a day out of their cell. Because if you’re in a small, confined space for a very long time, that can be really damaging on your mental health. Then how are you ever going to restore yourself, if you’re feeling that defeated? There were efforts this legislative session to further reform the entire process of, can we do mental health checks on people once they’re placed in there? If someone does need to go in that type of housing for disciplinary reasons, can we reassess some sort of in-between option instead?
Adams: What’s been the response from the state to this reporting? I’m curious what state lawmakers are doing and saying about it, as well as agencies like the Department of Corrections.
Woods: Shortly after the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus put out their their statement and they noted the inmates who had harmed themselves, they used that a little bit as a rallying cry, like “we need to continue working on efforts as legislators to help improve the experiences and outcomes of people who are essentially under the state’s ward” — their health, welfare, well-being, because now the state is responsible for them. Some of these people, they’re there for life. They did a crime that puts them there for life. Some of these people will be able to get out someday. More broadly, when you look at criminal justice laws that I tend to cover, I really focus on those bills that are aimed at helping people help themselves, and how can they get their life back on track? I always try to look for solutions. But more immediately, in the response to Virginia Legislative Black Caucus’ press release, Chad Dotson, the Virginia Department of Corrections director, had a release come out, where … feathers were ruffled, I guess. He referred to some lawmakers and activists as prison abolitionists trying to quote, unquote, “score cheap political points” because, you know, everything is politics inherently at some point, can’t always avoid it.
Then you flash forward to December, and the House of Delegates Public Safety Committee held a meeting for a few hours on Dec. 16, I believe it was, to specifically address Red Onion and to focus on all the allegations that were coming out of there. Dotson gave a presentation that broke down the demographics of the prison and programming that it does have. Then various political advocates were able to speak up and talk about their experiences, including some people who have been incarcerated themselves. Also Virginia’s chapter of American Civil Liberties Union talked a little bit about a case they have. It’s sort of a class-action case where a few former inmates or current inmates have been talking about allegations of mistreatment and abuse and prolonged use of restrictive housing. That was something that occurred in December.
Around this time, they had announced the new corrections ombudsman position that was created through previous legislation. She was hired late last year. She’s been staffing up her office. When I touched base with her team recently, they’re mostly hired up. They needed to add a few different people to the staff. They’re planning an investigation. Obviously, they’re not going to say when they’re going to do it. One of her first priorities as Virginia’s correction ombudsman is to probe Red Onion. Whatever comes out of that report, I’m sure plenty of solutions will probably start to emerge.
Adams: So what happens next? You mentioned the investigation is coming. I expect lawmakers are working on some other things.
Woods: Del. Mike Jones, from here in Richmond, observed when he visited Red Onion, he saw quite a few inmates there that were originally from the Richmond area. He was saying, roughly, quote unquote, “I could have held a town hall with my constituents that were there.” And something that Director Chad Dodson of the Department of Corrections had said was he believes some of the guys that burned themselves were simply seeking a transfer. He thinks that some people are fed up with the fact that they’re in a southwest Virginia prison that’s so far away from their friends and family so they don’t get to see them as often, and they just want to be closer to where they’re originally from. That could very well be true, and that could be part of things for sure. Something that Del. Mike Jones said that he wants to work on in the 2026 legislative session is a bill that could find some kind of middle ground where, when someone’s being sentenced, depending on their crime, if they need to go to a high level facility or not, is there a way we can make sure that they’re going somewhere closer to where they’re from originally, or where their crime occurred, so people can be closer to their support system.
Another component I think no one really has a clear answer yet, but something that has come up in my reporting and other people’s reporting is staffing issues within these prisons. It’s happening in the Department of Juvenile Justice. It’s happening in the Department of Corrections. There are certain facilities that just don’t have as much staff. They need to make hires. The existing staff is just burnt out, tired, can’t cover as much ground. Anecdotally, I’ve heard from a few former and currently incarcerated people that sometimes lockdowns happen not because of a fight breaking out, but just because they’re so short-staffed one day, it makes the correctional officers’ jobs easier. Aside from the investigation, which could reveal more of the intricacies of what these various allegations are, I think that there’s already some low-hanging fruit solutions that state agencies and state lawmakers can start really considering, and some have already started doing so.
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Charlotte Rene Woods is a reporter for the Virginia Mercury.
