News & Commentary

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of West Virginia, and the law firm of WilmerHale took emergency legal action today on behalf of the Women’s Health Center of West Virginia and its patients to prevent the state from using the guise of the COVID-19 crisis to prevent people from obtaining abortion care.

A Court has agreed with ACLU-WV’s arguments that a number of documents relating to the state’s COVID-19 plan in correctional facilities be made publicly available.

Although the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals granted a motion to dismiss in a petition filed by  ACLU-WV to free 39 incarcerated individuals, the Court in its ruling also stated that Petitioners are permitted to file the action in circuit court. 

COVID19 could claim the lives of approximately 100,000 more people nationwide than current projections stipulate if jail populations are not dramatically and immediately reduced, according to a new epidemiological model released today by the ACLU and academic research partners.

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic forced so many people out of their jobs, more than 40 percent of West Virginians already had a debt that was in collections. Most of those debts were due to medical expenses.

A Tale of Two Countries: Racially Targeted Arrests in the Era of Cannabis Reform Details Millions of Racially Targeted Cannabis Arrests Made Between 2010-2018

The American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia has informed the City of Wheeling it may file a lawsuit and seek an injunction to prevent the city from moving forward with tearing down the dwellings of community members who are experiencing homelessness.

We are troubled by reports that Wheeling officials have destroyed an encampment where community members experiencing homelessness were living. This action would be wrong under normal circumstances, but is particularly dangerous public policy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

We are entering a nightmare scenario.