BY EMMA HARRISON
As the nation questions the purpose of the criminal justice system, West Virginia joined the conversation during the 2019 legislative session.
The extreme challenges people face after leaving prison significantly limit their ability to successfully reintegrate back into their communities — from access to sustainable employment to meeting basic needs.
According to The Sentencing Project, West Virginia incarcerates 372 of every 100,0000 people. Additionally, the rate at which women in our state are becoming incarcerated is growing. The U.S., more generally, incarcerates more people than any country in the world.
The costs associated with incarceration is making a significant dent in the state’s budget. In 2017, West Virginia spent $191 million of its general fund on corrections, accounting for 4.5 percent of the state’s budget. Additionally, between 1986 and 2017, the state has seen a 307 percent increase in correctional spending, forcing tradeoffs in other areas, including education, which has seen a 14 percent decrease over the same period.
National efforts toward criminal justice reform (like the First Step Act) are igniting waves of change in legislatures across the nation. While this act is a good step forward, it does not go far enough to make significant change.
Here in the Mountain State, the 2019 legislative session proposed and passed several bills to improve re-entry experiences for formerly incarcerated people and improve the communities they’re entering back into.
Lawmakers passed bills on expungement (SB 152), easy I.D. (HB 2083) and SNAP (HB 2459). While these bills provide valuable resources to formerly incarcerated people, they aren’t enough.
For example, before the introduction of the SNAP bill, West Virginia was one of only three states that continued a lifetime ban on SNAP benefits imposed by provisions in the Welfare Act of 1996. HB 2459 ended the lifetime ban on SNAP benefits for nonviolent drug offenders.
SB 152 defines who is eligible to get non-violent records expunged and what the time frame looks like for when that can occur.
HB 2083 provides a government-recognizable I.D. to nonviolent offenders upon leaving prison, valid for 90 days. This bill is particularly important because prior to its passage, it was incredibly difficult for people to acquire identification upon release.
I applaud the Legislature for its approach to reform, but it’s imperative we do not rest on these bills alone.
While West Virginia saw progress for formerly incarcerated people in this legislative session, there is more that can be done with continued efforts and support. Because of these strides in criminal justice reform, more issues can be introduced and discussed for review, including reducing minimum sentences, reforming the bail system and improving the juvenile justice system.
It’s time for the Legislature to help people convicted of violent crimes have opportunities to succeed upon release and give them a chance to re-enter society. It’s been proven that prior violent acts don’t equate to violent acts throughout a person’s life. Additionally, the propensity for an individual to act violently goes down with age. It’s crucial to not leave out thousands of incarcerated people for fear of their history of violence.
From employment to housing, childcare and beyond, formerly incarcerated people and their communities can benefit from changes.
With West Virginia’s prison population only expected to increase in the future, these conversations will only become more and more important in the coming months and years.
To help to continue these conversations, you can create a video to thank your elected officials for their dedication to the greater good of West Virginia. In your video, you can include why you’re thankful for their work as well as why the specific legislation is important to you. Emails can be submitted to WVCriminalJusticeReform@gmail.com.
Emma Harrison is a 2018 Truman Scholar and West Virginia Innocence Project intern and a volunteer teacher at the U.S. Prison Hazelton. She is from Morgantown. This commentary should be considered another point of view and not necessarily the opinion or editorial policy of The Dominion Post.
