USVI transfers 25 percent of prison inmates to mainland

Published on Monday, October 6, 2008

By Susan Mann
Caribbean Net News US Virgin Islands Correspondent
Email: susan@caribbeannetnews.com

ST THOMAS, USVI: US Virgin Islands governor John deJongh called a press conference on Wednesday to answer questions from the media; including the reason why 98 inmates of the territory's Golden Grove Prison on St. Croix were moved to a stateside prison earlier in the week.

Several Senators had already expressed their displeasure at not being informed in advance of the clandestine, unprecedented operation.

The Bureau of Corrections, scheduled to begin operating separately from the Department of Corrections on October, 1, 2009, has functioned under judicial oversight for over 20 years.

The American Civil Liberties Union has continued to advocate for inmate services such as psychiatric care for mentally ill inmates and has closely monitored the situation within the prison.

The Governor got right to the point when the meeting started. "Although there may have been some commentary about why more details were not released on the subject of the recent transfer of prisoners from Golden Grove or why others were not told in advance, I wish to remind you of two things. The first is that the fact of the transfer was confirmed by public information officers at Justice, the Police Department and Government House. And I will confirm today that, upon the recommendation of the Attorney General, 98 prisoners were transferred to stateside facilities beginning on September 27. And the second is that these are purely executive functions that cannot safely be trumpeted in advance." ...

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