RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) – The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia sent a letter to the head of the state’s corrections department demanding that the agency apply a recent court decision ordering a man’s release from prison to others with similar cases so they might be let out too.
The Supreme Court of Virginia ordered the release of Jose Garcia Vasquez, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder and a count of criminal gang participation , siding with him over the state in finding that the Department of Corrections wrongfully denied him earned sentence credits to be released early.
In a petition to the court, the ACLU of Virginia argued Garcia Vasquez earned credits for an early release but the department’s “erroneous interpretation” of a law allowing incarcerated people to earn credits at a quicker rate kept him in prison 18 months longer than he should have been.
The high court disagreed with the state’s argument that Garcia Vasquez’s conviction made him ineligible for the credits, finding the law did not exclude the “inchoate offense” — which primarily includes an attempt, conspiracy or solicitation of a crime — of conspiracy to commit murder.