Criminal Legal System

August 1, 2025 by Sara Whitaker
New Inmate Death Reporting System Named After Raleigh County Man

WVVA - The 2022 death of a man inside Southern Regional Jail due to assault from corrections workers has spurred a new data reporting system in West Virginia. Read the full article. The Quantez Burks Report was recently launched by the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy. Burks was secreted away, restrained and brutally beaten…

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August 1, 2025 by WVCBP
WV Center on Budget and Policy Introduces The Quantez Burks Report

WOAY - In West Virginia, the name Quantez Burks has become a symbol of a more profound crisis within the state’s jail and prison system.  Read the full article. Burks died in 2022 after being assaulted while handcuffed by state employees at Southern Regional Jail. Though the state initially claimed he died of natural causes, a…

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July 29, 2025 by Sara Whitaker
Introducing The Quantez Burks Report

In March 2022, a group of state employees beat Quantez Burks to death inside Southern Regional Jail. Three years later, eight former correctional officers have been sentenced to a combined 105 years behind bars for their roles in his death. They will serve these 105 years in a federal prison system that–like the state system…

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May 27, 2025 by Sara Whitaker
Court Watch: There is Always Money for Jails and Prisons, but Not for Lawyers

At the end of 2024, Kanawha County Circuit Court Judge Maryclaire Akers made a notable request to local lawyers. In a message circulated by the West Virginia State Bar, Judge Akers described a “crisis” brewing in Kanawha County courtrooms: there were not enough lawyers willing to accept court appointments. In tens of thousands of cases…

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April 25, 2025 by Sara Whitaker
Morrisey Signs Bill into Law Increasing Criminal Penalties for Drug Dealers in WV

West Virginia Watch - Gov. Patrick Morrisey on Thursday signed into law a bill to drastically increase criminal penalties for dealing and transporting certain types of drugs in West Virginia. Read the full article. Senate Bill 196 — dubbed Lauren’s Law in honor of a Morgantown woman who died in 2020 after accidentally overdosing on drugs…

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