Selina Vickers - District 32 | ACLU West Virginia

Please provide some basic information about yourself.

Name Selina Vickers

Office Sought House of Delegates District 32

City/Town Edmond

Email Address teamvickers.wv@gmail.com

From 1980 to 2016 the West Virginia state prison population has increased by 470%. What, if anything, would you change to reverse this trend?

I would listen to the recommendations of ACLU. I will work to decriminalize marijuana. I will work on prevention of issues that lead to incarceration.

Civil asset forfeiture is a process where police can seize any property "related" to criminal activity and later can file a civil case to forfeit the property to either be used or auctioned for money which is shared between the police department and local prosecutor. This can happen regardless of whether there is a criminal conviction or even criminal charges brought against a person.Proponents say this is a useful tool for taking ill-gotten gains from criminals and funding police work, and that legal protections adequately prevent abuse of the system.Critics say the system amounts to theft, that many people cannot afford the legal costs to challenge a forfeiture action, and that it creates a perverse incentive for police.Do you support or oppose the practice of civil asset forfeiture? What, if any, reforms would you make to the practice?

II would listen to the recommendations of ACLU. Generally, I oppose civil asset forfeiture except in egregious circumstances, such as organized crime.

More than half the population of West Virginia's regional jails are pre-trial. That means they haven't been found guilty of any crime yet. Most are there because they could not afford bail, though some are there because they were denied a chance to post bail. What changes, if any would you make to our pretrial and/or bail system to balance concerns about safety and court efficiency with ensuring we are not incarcerating people without due process?

I would listen to the recommendations of ACLU and AFSC and other organizations that are working on bail and jail reforms. This is not an area that I have very familiar.

In 2015 West Virginia passed significant reforms to the juvenile justice system. Despite these reforms, the State still utilizes out of home placement at a high rate for system-involved youth. What, if anything, should West Virginia do to reduce out-of-home placements for system-involved juveniles?

Much more effort needs to be done on prevention of child abuse and neglect, increase number of social workers, increase the pay for social workers, increase pay for foster families, develop wrap around services. WV DHHR needs significant reform.

West Virginia has a very low voter participation rate. What changes, if any, would you make to increase voter participation?

I would work towards implementation of automatic voter registration. If you are a WV citizen and are of age, you should be able to vote. I would also work towards vote by mail. I would work to eliminate voter identification requirements, yet make the penalty for voter impersonation and voter fraud very steep.

Over the past few years, there has been legislation aimed at requiring the Bible to be taught in public schools, allowing a Bible-based elective, or faith-based drug prevention electives. What is your stance on incorporating religion into the public schools?

Based on my understanding of the first amendment, I oppose teaching ANY religion in public school, however, I support teaching the historical and religious perspectives of all major religions.

At least 20 states have passed laws prohibiting discrimination in housing, employment, and public accommodations on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. 13 West Virginia municipalities have similar protections. Do you support or oppose a statewide law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in West Virginia? Why?

I support a law that protects discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations on the basis of sexual orientation and/or gender identity, just as I support existing laws that prevent that discrimination based on sex, race, religion or age.

In December 2019, Governor Justice announced that West Virginia would continue accepting refugees. Do you support or oppose accepting refugees in West Virginia? Under what conditions? Why?

Yes. I think it is prudent to have appropriate background and health checks of refugees, however, we should be open to help those in need, just we would want other nations to be open to us if we were in need.

Q10

Over the past few years, some states have continued to erode protections and access to abortion care. Other states have done the opposite and codified abortion rights that had previously been defined by courts. Do you favor further restrictions to abortion, expanding or codifying abortion rights, or taking no action on abortion?

I am pro-prevention. My focus on this issue will be pregnancy prevention. Two things are known to prevent pregnancy: Education and Access to birth control. We are seriously lacking on these two issues in WV. With that said, I fear that if abortion is completely illegal that young girls that are raped and find out they are pregnant will be forced to carry a child that they are too young to have. I fear that it will result in deaths from women self-aborting. I fear women who are pregnant and discover they have cancer will not be able to get cancer treatment due to their pregnancy. I have a lot of concerns about late term abortions, which are already illegal, but ultimately, I think abortion is a very difficult decision for many women and I think a woman/girl and her doctor need to make the decision, not me and certainly not people who do not know the particular circumstances of that woman/girl.