On Wednesday, Mark Holdren stood in a Charleston courtroom and told a federal judge that he was guilty of a civil rights conspiracy that resulted in the death of Quantez Burks. Mr. Burks, who would have been 40 years old next month, was arrested by Beckley police on February 28, 2022. Unable to post the…
Court Watch
A few months ago, lawmakers on West Virginia’s jail oversight committee heard a familiar complaint: the jail bills are too high. One county commissioner after another appeared before the committee with the same request: please don’t make us bear the full cost of our jail bill. The jail bill saga started decades ago. In 1985,…
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…
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…