ACLU-WV is seeking to intervene in an ongoing federal civil case to request that the state’s COVID-19 response plan for jails and prisons, currently held under seal, be made public.
The plan was recently submitted under seal for review by the court and counsel for the Plaintiffs — people currently in custody in West Virginia correctional facilities — as part of an emergency hearing regarding the medical treatment for the incarcerated in Baxley v. Jividen. ACLU-WV, not presently a party to the case, requested that its motions to intervene and to lift the seal on the records be expedited given the urgent need for transparency in light of COVID-19.
“The First Amendment affords the public a presumptive right to court records,” said Loree Stark, Legal Director for ACLU-WV. “The government rightfully has to overcome a high bar to keep those records sealed. The public, including the friends and loved ones of those incarcerated and those employed by correctional facilities, have a right to know what steps the government is taking to prevent a COVID-19 outbreak in our jails and prisons.”