Card-writing campaign launched to get former ODU student released
Supporters of an imprisoned former Old Dominion University student recently granted a conditional pardon by Gov. Ralph Northam have started a card-writing campaign urging the governor to order his immediate release.
The campaign kicked off Monday and seeks to have 22-year-old Matthew Rushin released from Nottoway Correctional Center in Burkeville in time for the holidays.
Supporters are asked to go online to purchase the postcards, which will then be printed, stamped and mailed for them to the governor and Virginia Department of Corrections Director Harold Clark.
The card was designed by Los Angeles-based artist Elisa Wong and features a drawing of Rushin surrounded by Christmas holly and berries on the front, and a written message on the back. Culture Greetings, a digital-to-print greeting card platform, is handling the campaign and will mail the cards after they’re purchased.
The card states that Rushin’s health is at risk because of the COVID-19 crisis and because he has a compromised immune system. He also has an untreated brain cyst that needs medical attention, the card says.
“There is no reason to keep Matthew behind bars,” the card states. “Get him home before the holidays so he can get the proper medical attention he needs.”
Rushin, of Virginia Beach, has been incarcerated since causing a multi-car crash on First Colonial Road, near Hilltop Shopping Center in January 2019 that left a New York man severely disabled and seriously injured his wife.
Rus h i n later pleaded guilty to malicious wounding and hit-and-run and was sentenced to 10 years. State sentencing guidelines had recommended a term between about 2½ to 6 ½ years.
Rushin’s family said he didn’t fully understand what he was doing when he entered the plea. A variety of experts enlisted by them afterward determined the crash was not intentional and that his autism played a role. Prosecutors maintain that the crash was a suicide attempt and that Rushin told witnesses he was trying to kill himself.
The family ’s lawyer submitted a pardon request to the governor this summer, and on Nov. 9, Northam granted a conditional one, clearing the way for Rushin’s release sometime in early 2021. That release time would put his time served in line with the low end of what state sentencing guidelines had recommended.
The conditional pardon, however, does not wipe out his conviction. It requires that he spend five years on supervised probation and get mental health treatment. He also can’t possess a firearm, operate a vehicle or contact the victims or their families. If he violates the terms in the next 10 years, he could be ordered to complete the rest of his sentence.