Poor People's Campaign Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Advocates Call For Sweeping Reform In W.Va.’s Jail System

Advocates and families of incarcerated people in West Virginia will gather inside the capitol building in the lower rotunda on Saturday morning.

Following the indictment of six former correctional officers in the beating death of Quantez Burks and the death of an additional inmate at Southern Regional Jail, families will join the West Virginia Poor People’s Campaign (WVPPC) to challenge the state legislature, governor and West Virginia’s U.S. Senators at a press conference Saturday morning.

At 11 a.m. Repairers of the Breach President Bishop William J. Barber II, Forward Justice, clergy and community supporters will gather in the lower rotunda of the Capitol to call for a full federal investigation into local prisons by the Department of Justice.

Pam Garrison, one of the Chairs of the WVPPC said recent legislative measures aren’t even a Band-Aid to the problems within the system.

“They always get the little guys, the little guys are the ones who always pay the price,” Garrison said. “But the ones who are, who have instigated, who have put these policies in that has the lack of policy, the lack of oversight, the lack of accountability, that lies down Charleston.”

Advocates claim that in the past five years, at least 25 people have died at the Southern Regional Jail alone, with inmates reporting chronic understaffing, overcrowding and neglect. This claim is backed up by reporting from Mountain State Spotlight.

There were 13 reported deaths at the Southern Regional Jail in 2022, and more than 100 deaths in the state’s regional jail system in the past decade.

“They put them in jail or they charge them with something like they’re trash, like they don’t matter, like they can just do anything to them,” Garrison said. “Well, I got news for them. They’ve got families and they got rights.”

Inmate Dies In W.Va. Custody

Just days after the protesters marched into the state Capitol to hand deliver a petition to Gov. Jim Justice, family members of William Samples identified him as the latest death of an incarcerated individual in West Virginia jails.

West Virginia State Police are investigating the death of an inmate at South Central Regional Jail in Kanawha County.

The death follows a protest by a national activist group that has called for a federal investigation into the deaths at West Virginia’s jails.

At the protest last week, Kimberly Burks, the mother of Quantez Burks, one of the 13 inmates who died in West Virginia jails in 2022, spoke about the mourning her family has done for their son.

“The whole system needs to go into the trash and be revamped because there’s a crisis here,” Burks said. “I do not want to see another family go through what we’ve been through.”

On Friday, March 10, protesters and The Poor People’s Campaign of West Virginia delivered a petition to Gov. Jim Justice’s office, calling for a full federal investigation into local prisons by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Advocates Rally At State Capitol To Demand Accountability in Jail Deaths

There were 13 reported deaths at the Southern Regional Jail in 2022, and more than 100 deaths in the state’s regional jail system in the past decade.

Advocates with the Poor People’s Campaign have notified Gov. Jim Justice of a federal investigation filed with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division to investigate a rise in reported deaths of those in custody at West Virginia jails.

There were 13 reported deaths at the Southern Regional Jail in 2022, and more than 100 deaths in the state’s regional jail system in the past decade.

On March 10, the families, and the Poor People’s Campaign, held a rally called “West Virginia Mothers and Families Deserve Answers” on the front steps of the capitol building.

Pam Garrison, one of the Chairs of the West Virginia Poor People’s Campaign (WVPPC), told the media and attendants to the rally that the rising number of deaths in West Virginia jails is what made the WVPPC reach out to the national Poor People’s Campaign.

“We sent a letter to Reverend Barber in the national asking them to come and help us, help us bring these family stories to the nation to let them know what’s going on here in West Virginia, and what’s getting hidden under the rugs,” Garrison said. “You know, it’s sad that we have to be here for this. In this kind of situation, somebody has to stand up. Somebody has to speak their mind. They are in the ground, they can’t speak for themselves.”

Lacey Watson ran against Congresswoman Carol Miller in 2022 for her seat in the U.S. House of Delegates. He attended Friday’s rally because he is concerned for his cousin, who is currently in the custody of West Virginia Jails.

“With my cousin being in that situation, we need more accountability from our elected leaders, from our governor all the way down to, those heads of the criminal justice system there at the Southern Regional Jail,” Watson said. “It’s ridiculous that you know, we as family members, we as a community have to demand accountability from the elected leaders that we have.”

Two of the 13 inmates that died last year were Quantez Burks and Alvis Shrewsbury. Their families attended the rally and spoke about their loved ones.

Advocates claim in many of these cases, a person died shortly following their arrival, sometimes within 24 hours. Such was the case for Quantez Burks, according to his mother, Kimberly Burks.

“My son was in their system for less than 22 hours,” Burks said. “The very next day, we got no message, no call, no anything from the state, the police department nor the justice system saying that my son was deceased. They beat my son while he was handcuffed. The private autopsy said he died of blunt force trauma to his whole body. His heart attack was caused because of the stress that his body was put under during their beating. Not only do we need to bring attention to the injustice that is going on in the jail, but we also need to hold these departments accountable for what they’re they’ve done. That means the governor, the chief of police, and the COs, especially since they’re still employed.”

While state lawmakers are considering a proposal to increase transparency in West Virginia’s jail system, families are left in the dark, waiting months for investigations to conclude only to be left with unanswered questions.

Miranda Smith, the daughter of Alvis Shrewsbury shared her family’s story.

“On August 29, 2023, a 45-year-old healthy dad, brother son, grandfather, and grandson entered Southern Regional Jail and only survived 19 days of brutal and inhumane treatment,” Smith said. “He was beaten by fellow inmates and it was ignored and covered up by corrupt correctional officers and authority. He was neglected by the medical staff and due to this maltreatment my dad passed away in Washington Regional Hospital. People who knew and loved him will always see it as if he died in that jail.”

The final speaker was Bishop William J. Barber, President of the Repairers of the Breach and Co-Chair of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival.

“These tears that you see are not black tears or white tears. The pain is tough enough to have a loved one die. It’s tough enough to have someone die, just in life period. But to have all of these unanswered questions, to have all of these distortions, compounds the pain and we’re calling on everyone who believes in righteousness and truth, to turn those all of the investigative tools that you have.”

The rally then took to the sidewalk to march and sing as they delivered a petition to Gov. Jim Justice’s office, calling for a full federal investigation into local prisons by the Department of Justice.

A Weekend Of Protest Ends On A Spiritual Note

The Grant Town Power Plant was the focus of protests this weekend, calling on Sen. Joe Manchin to take action on climate change.

On Saturday, despite rain and snow, hundreds of protesters descended on the power plant in an action that resulted in 16 arrests.

On Sunday, a smaller group of about 50 joined in front of the Marion County plant’s gates to celebrate a Palm Sunday service.

Rev. William Barber, of the Poor People’s Campaign led the crowd in a rendition of “Walk With Me,” a traditional African-American spiritual and standard of the Civil Rights Movement.

Campaign co-chair Rev. Liz Theoharis, presided over the ceremony with Rev. Barber and said the protest was a call to action for Manchin.

“Senator Manchin, and then this coal represents a major blockage to passing of programs that could uplift the poor, that could protect the environment that could raise wages for workers,” she said.

The power plant has become a focus of climate and policy activists because of its relationship to Manchin and its pollution. Grant Town burns “gob” coal, short for “garbage of bituminous,” a dirtier and less efficient fuel the plant purchases from Enersystems, Inc.

Enersystems is owned by the Manchin family and in SEC filings, Sen. Manchin reported receiving nearly $500,000 from Enersystems in 2020 alone. Activists claim this relationship unduly influences the senator’s decisions as the chairman of the Senate’s committee on energy and natural resources.

D.L. Hamilton helped organize the weekend’s activities as part of West Virginia Rising. Like many who attended the weekend’s actions, she expressed frustration at watching her elected representative block legislation she believes would help most West Virginians.

“A lot of the locals did not want this to happen, especially when they called it a blockade,” she said. “But I got to thinking, you know, Manchin has blocked so much that it just seems kind of appropriate to do a blockade.”

Hamilton said she believes the state has a bright future beyond coal, and as a native of Fayetteville, she has seen firsthand that communities can transition away from coal dependence. It just takes community, unity, and a variety of approaches

“It takes all kinds. It takes all strategies and tactics,” Hamilton said. “The fact that this was Palm Sunday. And so whatever rabble rousing happened yesterday, we’re here for beauty and peace.”

In the Christian tradition, Palm Sunday commemorates a procession into Jerusalem. Rev. Theoharis drew parallels to the weekend’s action.

“That’s actually what Palm Sunday is about, is being committed in our vision, that it can change and then dedicating ourselves to march on towards justice,” she said.

For now, it is a slow march. Although no concrete plans were shared, organizers said there would be more actions in the coming weeks in the hopes of enacting change.

West Virginians Prominent Speakers In Rally At Supreme Court

The Poor People’s Campaign has held a number of rallies in West Virginia demanding that Sen. Joe Manchin takes action on social issues and voting rights.

The group was in Washington Monday for the signing of the bipartisan infrastructure bill and to encourage Congress to pass the Build Back Better social infrastructure bill. And two West Virginians went with them.

Rev. Paul Dunn, from Charleston, and Stewart Acuff, from Jefferson County, spoke to the rally in front of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Acuff said he had a simple question for Manchin.

“This is a question written in a song in 1933 during a coal miners’ strike in Appalachia. Joe Manchin, which side are you on?” he shouted into the microphone. “I’m here to bear witness that for 40 years, wages for average workers have been flat and stagnant. I’m here to bear witness to the fact that we’ve experimented for 40 years with trickle-down economics. It doesn’t work. This people’s infrastructure legislation is simply the first step towards turning our country around.”

Dunn is the head pastor at First Baptist Church in downtown Charleston.

“I’m the preacher who supported Joe Manchin. I supported him even in commercials that aired,” Dunn said, explaining that the ads ended with him saying that Manchin was the type of leadership that West Virginia needed.

“Be the leader we believed that you would be and that we voted in the ballot box for you to be. That’s the kind of leadership that West Virginia needs,” Dunn said.

Following the rally, the group attempted to march to the U.S. Capitol Building to pray, but they were blocked by Capitol Police. Both Manchin and Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema refused to meet with them.

Poor People’s Campaign Seeking Action From Manchin On ‘Build Back Better’ Legislation

Economist Jeffrey Sachs spoke at a public forum Monday in Charleston, sponsored by the Poor People’s Campaign, discussing poverty in West Virginia.

Sachs is a noted international economist who studies poverty issues.

The purpose of the forum was to debate the Build Back Better program, a social infrastructure plan currently being debated in the Congress.

U.S. Senator Joe Manchin isn’t supporting the program and the group wanted to discuss why, and encourage him to change his mind.

Manchin has questioned the size of the social spending program. Sachs criticized Manchin for fighting against taxes on the rich but then questioning if the country can afford to pay for Build Back Better.

“You know what this package is right now, after it’s been cut and cut and cut?” Sachs asked. “It’s not even one percent of our income in this country.”

Sachs says he reached out to Manchin’s office, but never got a response. The Poor People’s Campaign is sending a letter directly to President Joe Biden to try to get some attention.

Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, one of the co-chairs of the Poor People’s Campaign, addressed the attendees at Monday’s public forum.

Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, one of the co-chairs of the Poor People’s Campaign, said 42 percent of the people in West Virginia are poor or low wealth.

“That’s why we’re challenging Senator Manchin. We don’t understand what in the world is going on with him,” Barber said. “He should be championing the Build Back Better plan.”

West Virginia Public Broadcasting reached out to Sen Manchin’s office for comment, but didn’t receive a response by our deadline. This story will be updated with any response.