Jails Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Pennsylvania Festival Stars Fireflies And ‘Us & Them’ Explores Mental Health Challenges In W.Va. Jails, This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, every summer, fireflies emerge for a few weeks — sending love signals in the dark. Those fireflies — including synchronous ones — are the stars of a festival at a farm in Forest County, Pennsylvania. As WPSU’s Anne Danahy reports, that farm draws both firefly fans — and researchers — looking to learn more about lightning bugs.

On this West Virginia Morning, every summer, fireflies emerge for a few weeks — sending love signals in the dark. Those fireflies — including synchronous ones — are the stars of a festival at a farm in Forest County, Pennsylvania. As WPSU’s Anne Danahy reports, that farm draws both firefly fans — and researchers — looking to learn more about lightning bugs.

Also, in this show, overcrowding and understaffing have pushed West Virginia’s prisons and jails to what many believe is a crisis point. It’s an issue we’ve delved into on WVPB’s Us & Them. But just last week, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit that sought to force the state to spend $330 million to improve prison and jail conditions in West Virginia.

So, this month we’re sharing an encore, award-winning episode entitled “Mental Health Crisis Behind Bars In West Virginia.”

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from Shepherd University.

Chris Schulz produced this episode.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning

Us & Them Encore: Mental Health Crisis Behind Bars In W.Va.

Hundreds of thousands of people with mental illnesses are caught up in a criminal justice system that was never intended to treat them. This encore Us & Them episode was part of a series that was honored with a first place award from Virginia’s Associated Press Broadcasters for “Public Service Through Journalism.” In this report, we hear what it’s like to live with mental illness behind bars in the Mountain State.

Overcrowding and understaffing have pushed West Virginia’s prisons and jails to what many believe is a crisis point.

On this episode of Us & Them, we hear what incarceration is like for someone in a mental health crisis. Hundreds of thousands of people with mental illnesses are caught up in a criminal justice system that was never intended to treat them.

In a recent special session, West Virginia lawmakers earmarked $30 million to address staffing shortages and provide pay raises and retention bonuses to correctional staff. There is also $100 million for deferred facility maintenance. However, a new lawsuit against the state on behalf of West Virginia inmates, demands more than three times that amount is needed.

This episode of Us & Them is presented with support from the Just Trust, the West Virginia Humanities Council, the CRC Foundation and the Daywood Foundation.

Subscribe to Us & Them on Apple Podcasts, NPR One, RadioPublic, Spotify, Stitcher and beyond.

Bishop Mark Brennan and Jeff Allen, director of West Virginia Council of Churches, listen to Beverly Sharp, founder of the REACH Initiative in West Virginia at a West Virginia Council of Churches press conference on the subject of the criminal justice system in West Virginia.

*Photo Credit: Kyle Vass*

Lara Lawson from Milton in Cabell County, W.Va., has her master’s degree in sociology and is passionate about social justice issues. She has also been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and manages that condition. Lawson told *Us & Them* host Trey Kay about her experience during a manic period of her illness when she was placed in Western Regional Jail and deprived of mental health medication. While Lawson said she was not suicidal – she recalled being put in a suicide watch cell for observation.

*Photo Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

*Us & Them* host Trey Kay met with investigative reporter Mary Beth Pfeiffer at her home in the Hudson Valley of New York to talk about her book *Crazy In America: The Hidden Tragedy of Our Criminalized Mentally Ill*. Pfeiffer’s book shows how people suffering from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, clinical depression and other serious psychological illnesses are regularly incarcerated because medical care is not available. Once behind bars, she reports that people with mental illness are frequently punished for behavior that is psychotic, not criminal. Pfeiffer’s reporting examines a society that incarcerates its weakest and most vulnerable citizens — causing some to emerge sicker and more damaged.

*Photo Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Ashley Omps testified at the West Virginia State Capitol before the Senate Oversight Committee on Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority. She told this group of powerful strangers about the worst experience in her life — a time when she was incarcerated in Eastern Regional Jail after an intense, traumatic event and said she was denied mental health treatment. Omps said it was uncomfortable to share her personal story, but it made a difference. West Virginia law has changed, because people like Ashley took their stories to the capitol.

*Photo Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

A Budget Surplus, A Coming Special Session And COVID-19 Cases Rise, This West Virginia Week

On this West Virginia Week, Gov. Jim Justice made multiple announcements during a Monday event. The governor said West Virginia residents could soon see their income taxes go down further because the state collected $826 million more in revenue than had been budgeted for this fiscal year.

On this West Virginia Week, Gov. Jim Justice made multiple announcements during a Monday event. The governor said West Virginia residents could soon see their income taxes go down further because the state collected $826 million more in revenue than had been budgeted for this fiscal year.

Justice also said he plans to call another special session of the state’s legislature in the coming months to cut an additional 5 percent from the state’s personal income tax and pass a childcare tax credit.

Plus, we’ll hear about the expansion of the Hope Scholarship and how West Virginians can track their vaccination status during a summer surge of COVID-19.

Emily Rice is our host this week. Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert.

West Virginia Week is a web-only podcast that explores the week’s biggest news in the Mountain State. It’s produced with help from Bill Lynch, Briana Heaney, Chris Schulz, Curtis Tate, Emily Rice, Eric Douglas, Jack Walker, Liz McCormick and Maria Young.

Learn more about West Virginia Week.

Books In Prisons And How The Role Of ‘Dad’ Is Shifting, This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, being a parent is a 24-hour role, and a lifetime commitment that has historically fallen to women. As men have started to take on more domestic work, what it means to be a father has started to shift. Chris Schulz looks at these changes in our latest installment of “Now What? A Series on Parenting.”

On this West Virginia Morning, being a parent is a 24-hour role, and a lifetime commitment that has historically fallen to women. As men have started to take on more domestic work, what it means to be a father has started to shift.

Chris Schulz looks at these changes in our latest installment of “Now What? A Series on Parenting.”

Also, in this show, across the country, people who are incarcerated have reduced access to libraries, books and educational resources, according to the Appalachian Prison Book Project. For the past 20 years, the West Virginia-based nonprofit has worked to change that. They say that accessing books is a fundamental human right.

Jack Walker reports on the group’s history, and what it takes to get a book into an Appalachian prison.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from Shepherd University.

Chris Schulz produced this episode.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning

Ukrainians In Morgantown Honor Front Line Veteran, This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, sparking a new wave of fighting in a conflict that stretches back at least a decade. As that fighting enters its third year, a small community of Ukrainians, formed around West Virginia University (WVU), recently came together to honor one of the war’s frontline veterans.

On this West Virginia Morning, Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, sparking a new wave of fighting in a conflict that stretches back at least a decade. As that fighting enters its third year, a small community of Ukrainians, formed around West Virginia University (WVU), recently came together to honor one of the war’s front line veterans. Chris Schulz has the story.

Also, in this show, the corrections system in West Virginia is a point of discussion at the state legislature. Overcrowding staffing is at the top of the list. Last week for The Legislature Today, Randy Yohe sat down with forensic psychologist Dr. David Clayman and Senate Jails and Prison Committee co-chair Sen. Jason Barrett, R-Berkeley, to talk about the diversion of certain persons from the criminal justice system.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from Shepherd University.

Eric Douglas produced this episode.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning

Two Former Corrections Officers Plead Guilty In Inmate Death

On Thursday, Steven Nicholas Wimmer and Andrew Fleshman each pleaded guilty to conspiring with other officers to use unreasonable force against an inmate identified as “Q.B.” in court documents.

Steven Nicholas Wimmer and Andrew Fleshman each pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiring with other officers to use unreasonable force against an inmate identified as “Q.B.” in court documents.

Wimmer and Fleshman are former corrections officers from the Southern Regional Jail in Beaver, West Virginia. On March 1, 2022, the officers admitted assaulted Q.B. resulting in his death.

According to their plea agreements, Wimmer and Fleshman each acknowledged that they separately responded to a call for officer assistance after Q.B. tried to push past another correctional officer and leave his assigned pod and that, when each arrived at the pod, Q.B. was on the floor as force was being used against him.

The officers then restrained and handcuffed Q.B.

Wimmer, Fleshman and other members of the conspiracy then escorted Q.B. to an interview room where members of the conspiracy aided and abetted each other, struck and injured Q.B. while he was restrained, handcuffed and posed no threat.

Wimmer and Fleshman each admitted that the members of the conspiracy struck and injured Q.B. in order to punish him for attempting to leave his assigned pod.

In his plea agreement, Fleshman admits that he was one of the members who injured Q.B. while he was restrained and posed no threat. He further admitted that he and others moved Q.B. from the interview room into a cell, where members of the conspiracy continued to strike and injure Q.B. while he was restrained, handcuffed and posed no threat to anyone.

Wimmer also admitted to striking and injuring Q.B. after he was brought to the cell in his plea agreement.

Wimmer and Fleshman each pleaded guilty on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023 before U.S. District Court Judge Frank W. Volk. They each face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

Sentencing hearings are scheduled for Feb. 22, 2024.

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, U.S. Attorney William S. Thompson for the Southern District of West Virginia and Special Agent in Charge Michael D. Nordwall of the FBI Pittsburgh Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI Pittsburgh Field Office is investigating the case.

Deputy Chief Christine M. Siscaretti and Trial Attorney Matthew Tannenbaum of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and Deputy Criminal Chief Monica Coleman for the Southern District of West Virginia are prosecuting the case.