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Author's New Book Explores Robert Kennedy’s 1968 Tour Of Appalachia

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On this West Virginia Morning, we remember a bit about Appalachia as experienced by Bobby Kennedy.

Several bills this legislative session deal with criminal justice reform. Specifically, bills to help reduce the number of people incarcerated in West Virginia – and to remove housing and employment barriers for people who leave the jail system.

On last night’s episode of The Legislature Today, Emily Allen spoke with Jeff Sandy, Secretary of the West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety – for an overview of reform efforts in his agency.

Here’s an excerpt from the interview, taped live at the Capitol.

In February 1968, Robert Kennedy, then a US Senator, took a trip to eastern Kentucky to investigate the successes and the failures of the War on Poverty. In the new book “All This Marvelous Potential: Robert Kennedy’s 1968 Tour of Appalachia,” author Matthew Algeo examines the trip and digs into what Kennedy saw, what has changed since then, and what remains the same.

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