Virginia abolished parole in 1995. Virginia prisons and jails have mushroomed and now cost taxpayers over $1 billion annually. That's about $33,000 per year for each of about 30,000 inmates. Average time served across all crime categories has tripled over the last 20 years.

Crime has fallen, recidivism rates are low, but incarceration continues to rise. Among those impacted are people convicted of non-violent offenses, elderly prisoners who pose no threat to their communities, and a disturbing number of juveniles sentenced as adults.

The best available research shows that higher incarceration rates and longer sentences have, if anything, a negative impact on public safety. You can find relevant research and news coverage here, here, here, here, and here.

Governor Terry McAuliffe appointed a 27-member commission to review parole abolition. The 10,000 signers of this petition demanded that each member of the commission take the time to study the evidence and make a strong, clear recommendation to Governor that parole should be reinstated in Virginia. We hoped to send a strong signal to the commissioners that Virginians are ready for reasonable, humane, and financially viable criminal justice reform.

Unfortunately, the Commission on Parole Review did not include parole reinstatement in its recommendations to Governor McAuliffe. Although the Commission made some modest and promising recommendations (increasing good time credits, establishing second-look procedures for inmates serving unduly long sentences), it was clear to those of us who attended the Commission's meetings that the voters and citizens are far ahead of the Commissioners on these issues. So we now turn our attention directly to Governor McAuliffe.

Governor McAuliffe: more than 10,000 Virginians demanded that your Commission on Parole Review study the evidence, which unequivocally shows that the possibility of parole is a useful correctional tool. We demand that you take the Commission's recommendations and develop an ambitious and aggressive agenda for criminal justice reform in the Commonwealth which not only incorporates the Commission's recommendations but also exceeds them.

There is widespread popular support for such reform. We commit ourselves to vocally opposing those who stand in the way and actively supporting those who are bold enough to advance such an agenda.