A contextual note from the WVCBP: The most important criminal law bill of the 2024 West Virginia legislative session got little attention from lawmakers. Senate Bill 736, the Second Look Sentencing Act, would have given judges the authority to review long sentences in cases where a person has served at least 10 years for an…
Criminal Justice
Over the last two years, West Virginians have learned about horrifying conditions inside our state jails and prisons. Thanks to the courage and diligence of people closest to these problems, we have seen past the walls. Residents served rotten or undercooked food. Cells with “broken toilets, busted windows, no hot water, exposed electrical wires and…
New Yorker - On a snowy day in late January, Zach Shrewsbury, a thirty-two-year-old Marine Corps veteran, picked me up in his battered Chrysler 300, near the West Virginia state capitol. Our first stop was a gas station, where Shrewsbury bought a gallon of wiper fluid and, because his wiper hose had broken the night…
Public News Service - Amid overcrowding and unsafe conditions in West Virginia jails, state lawmakers introduced bills that would allow judges to take a 'second look' at an individual's original sentence. Read the full article. If a court determines they no longer pose a threat to the community, the person could be released, placed on…
Ahead of the 2024 legislative session, there seemed to be broad consensus among lawmakers, Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DCR) officials, and the public that addressing multiple crises in our criminal system should be a priority. On the surface, legislators seemed ready to take action. Over the course of the 2024 regular session, more than…
Mountain State Spotlight - On Feb. 9, 20-year-old Desarae Godsey died during a stint at the Southern Regional Jail, adding another name to the growing list of people who have died at West Virginia’s deadliest jail. Read the full article. An hour west on I-64 and a day earlier, delegates on the House Committee on Jails and…
Charleston Gazette-Mail - The West Virginia Senate approved a bill in a 23-9 vote Friday that would bar magistrates from releasing defendants charged with a felony on a personal recognizance bond, which allows a defendant to be released from jail without posting bail. Read the full article. The ban, which is poised to create more…
Mountain State Spotlight, Beckley Register-Herald - Senators are trying to breathe new life into a bill that critics say would lead to more people sitting in jail awaiting trial after a House Committee overwhelmingly rejected the legislation last week. Read the full article. SB 725 would’ve stripped magistrates — who generally see someone first after they…
Public News Service - Nationwide, people with disabilities are overrepresented both as victims of crime and those who are accused of crimes, and advocates believe the justice system could do much more to improve accessibility. Read the full article. The system is not always fair to people with autism, cognitive disabilities and learning disorders, and…
Charleston Gazette-Mail - Deaths at state-run jails in West Virginia declined in 2023 from the previous year but remained significantly higher than totals throughout the 2010s. Read the full article. In 2023, 16 incarcerated people died in West Virginia regional jails, according to data the Gazette-Mail obtained from the state Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation…