With confirmation that COVID-19 is spreading in a nursing home in Morgantown, a colalition including ACLU-WV is again calling on Gov. Jim Justice to take immediate action to reduce the number of people in our jails and prisons.
And we’re making it easy for him. Our attorneys have produced an executive order that puts both public health and safety front and center. All he needs to do is sign it.
The order would allow Justice to:
- Greatly reduce jail and prison populations by commuting sentences of at-risk individuals and those who are near the end of their sentences
- Order law enforcement to only make arrests when there is a threat to someone’s safety
- Request that judges limit the flow of people into jails and prisons as much as possible
These facilities are overcrowded and unsanitary. Many of the people being held have not been convicted of a crime.
This order will protect the health of corrections workers and incarcerated individuals alike. We can’t afford to wait.