Students Participate in Simulation Focused on Life After Prison

Dozens of University of Virginia School of Law students recently participated in a simulation to understand the challenges faced by people released from prison.

In October, students in criminal law classes with Professors Thomas Frampton and Darryl Brown ’90 spent an hour in the shoes of someone who has just returned home from incarceration. The simulation exercise was divided into four 15-minute segments, representing four weeks — the period when the newly freed are most likely to again be arrested. The simulation replicated hurdles such as obtaining identification, securing employment and accessing essential services.

“My biggest takeaway was just how much there was to do and how much you’re given almost no time or agency to do it,” simulation participant Logan Ford ’27 said in written comments.

The Missouri Department of Corrections created the simulation with the support of a grant from United Way more than a decade ago. Professor Kelly Orians, who directs UVA Law’s Decarceration and Community Reentry Clinic, received simulation kit materials from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Birmingham, Alabama, and was encouraged to put her own spin on the exercise. Orians said former Alabama U.S. Attorneys Joyce Vance ’85 and Kenyen Brown are responsible for the simulation being widely used by many U.S. attorney’s offices around the country.

But the clinic’s spin on the simulation had a twist: formerly incarcerated people ran the show. Local reentry organizations Home to Hope, The Fountain Fund, Central Virginia Violence Interrupters, Offender Aid and Restoration, The Haven and Nolef Turns facilitated the simulation with clients and staff who have personally navigated reentry.

According to Orians, nearly 2 million people in the United States are currently incarcerated, and most of them will eventually return home. Nearly 80 million Americans have a criminal record.

People face numerous challenges when reentering society after incarceration, starting from the moment they walk out of prison. As Orians explained, even getting a ride home can be difficult, especially in rural areas where prisons issue bus tickets but don’t provide transport to the nearest bus stop. Reentering the community and complying with release requirements requires additional rides to court offices, probation and social services appointments, the DMV and medical appointments.

Financial struggles are common, too, as those released often have little cash and need job opportunities to afford food, housing, transportation and new clothes. And with most financial transactions now electronic, setting up a bank account is another critical step in the transition.

“They have to learn how to use a cell phone and a computer, since those things are no longer privileges anymore but are absolutely necessary in order to communicate and participate in commerce,” Orians said.

The exercise simulated the difficulties these issues created, and Orians noticed how demoralized students became.

Many students resorted to going to the “chance” table, where they could choose to commit a crime in order to potentially make money, even though they knew they would probably get caught and return to jail.

To keep the game moving, Orians took some liberties and gave students chances to get out of jail quickly.

“After the third ‘week’ of the simulation, it felt easier to be in jail than keep trying,” said Andrew Lee ’27 in written comments. “I was tired of money constantly running out and forgetting to complete my felon requirements, which sent me back to jail and made it harder to re-reenter when I got out again.”

However, Orians was pleasantly surprised by the amount of mutual aid and support that came naturally to many students. Some were responsible for finding care for children — represented by teddy bears in the simulation — so that they could go to work, to court or visit their probation officer, but they had to pay for prohibitively expensive child care in order to do so.

“Some of the students came together and cared for each other’s kids in order to get around that requirement,” she said.

The fictitious proceedings of the simulation have real-world implications. Orians trains her clinic students to anticipate the needs of the currently incarcerated clients they represent before the parole board and during post-conviction court proceedings. They also help clients navigate how to advocate for themselves when they are back in their communities.

“All of the legal work and sophisticated arguments we craft in our pleadings are worth nothing if our clients don’t have safe, healthy and dignified places to land when they get out,” she said. “But ultimately, we depend on community-based reentry organizations — which are often run by formerly incarcerated individuals themselves — to best support them.”

Riley Smith ’27, a student who participated in the simulation, called the experience “impactful.”

“Because the simulation was run by formerly incarcerated individuals, it felt authentic in a way that cannot be replicated in traditional academic environments,” Smith said in written comments. “It was definitely one of the most memorable educational experiences I have ever had and is a great example of the advantages to being at UVA Law.”