Charleston Gazette-Mail, Huntington Herald-Dispatch, Governing - Since Dec. 1, there have been COVID-19 outbreaks in five of West Virginia’s regional jails and at least four correctional centers. Read the full article. During that time, at least 833 inmates in the 10 regional jails throughout West Virginia tested positive for the virus, and three outbreaks in…
Criminal Legal System
As COVID-19 cases rise across the country and throughout the state, West Virginia’s correctional facilities continue to be at heightened risk of outbreaks. Outbreaks are particularly concerning in these facilities because incarcerated people tend to have both more health challenges and less access to quality medical care than the general populace. With the state entering…
This report was written for WVCBP by Rayna E. Momen, MA. Introduction Over the past 40 years, the mass incarceration of women has exploded in West Virginia (WV), growing by a staggering 2,731 percent from 1978 to 2019. Female incarceration has grown so quickly, in fact, that women are being incarcerated at a higher rate…
For Immediate Release: December 10, 2020Contact: Renee Alves, 559-916-5939 Charleston, WV - Over the past 40 years, the mass incarceration of women in West Virginia has exploded, growing by a staggering 2,731 percent from 1978 to 2019. The incarceration rate of women far exceeds the incarceration rate of men in the Mountain State, and in 2019, West…
When the COVID-19 pandemic began, West Virginia law enforcement and corrections officials moved quickly to reduce jail and prison populations. And while the prison population has remained lower than normal, since April, the jail population has steadily increased and was more than 35 percent overcapacity as of November 12. Among the reasons for the burgeoning…
Mountain State Spotlight - Despite a federal judge’s ruling, West Virginia has no immediate plans to distribute federal stimulus checks to people incarcerated in the state’s jails and prisons. Read the full article. The federal government sent many Americans $1,200 checks earlier this year, through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. But for months, the…
Mass incarceration of adults cost the Mountain State over $314 million in 2019. The collateral consequences impact our communities, families and economy. Please join us on Thursday, Nov. 12 for a virtual summit to hear from experts, participate in dialogue and discuss solutions to mass incarceration in our state.Summit Schedule:3 p.m. Dwayne Betts, author of Felon4 p.m. Breakout…
According to a study by the National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice, the COVID-19 mortality rate nationwide is twice as high in prisons compared to the general population. Social distancing is difficult if not impossible in correctional facilities due to their congregate nature. This, combined with the reality that incarcerated people are more likely…
Charleston Gazette-Mail - Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, in the unimaginably distant days of springtime, somebody came up with the slogan “West Virginia: Practicing social distancing since 1863.” It made it to a T-shirt. Read the full op-ed. There’s some truth to that, although we didn’t prove to be as immune to the disease as…
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Lida Shepherd at lshepherd@afsc.org or (304) 356-8428 Download PDF here. Charleston, WV – With a full blown outbreak of COVID-19 looming in the state’s regional jails, advocates reiterate the call to magistrates, circuit court judges, and prosecutors to use the full force of the new bail law to slow the spread of…