A caravan through Richmond and speeches in Monroe Park will highlight the 5th Annual Virginia Prison Justice Rally on Saturday, Jan. 22, it has been announced.

The Virginia Prison Justice Network, an organization of 21 prisoner advocacy groups, sponsors the yearly event that is said to be the largest gathering to support the human rights of prisoners.

This year’s gathering will focus on four policy initiatives: Encouraging the General Assembly to restore parole, to end the use of solitary confinement, to install third-party oversight of state

prisons and jails and to authorize “second look” re-sentencing to allow courts to shorten lengthy terms based on a review of a case and the person’s record during incarceration.

The caravan will begin gathering at 11 a.m. Saturday in the parking lot beside the Lumpkin’s Jail site, 15th and Broad streets in Shockoe Bottom, and begin traveling through the city at 11:45 a.m. The caravan will end at Monroe Park at Belvidere and Main streets for a 90-minute rally at 1 p.m.

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