Explosion of inmate and in-custody deaths amid possible change to a WV common law

A national civil rights attorney, headquartered in Charleston, said there has been a dramatic increase in inmate and in-custody deaths across West Virginia in recent years and now the state is trying to change the way families can file lawsuits after their loved ones die in jails and prisons.

Casualties and emergency response

"There's been an explosion, really an epidemic of deaths in our regional jails and prison system and it shouldn't happen,” Forbes said.

“It's got no place in America.

It's got no place in West Virginia." Forbes described one of the cases similar to the ones he takes in West Virginia, which is graphic in nature.

"Just two weeks ago, the state of West Virginia settled a case involving deliberate indifference claims for an inmate at North Central Regional Jail who was only in the jail for three hours.

He came in again, another substance use disorder. He needed medical help. They locked him in a cage.

He got upset and tried asking the guards for medical help. They didn't get the help for him.

Explosion under investigation

The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia heard two cases Tuesday morning that have to do with what attorney Jesse Forbes said has to do with the state trying to make it so that when people die in jail or prison their families can no longer sue the state – which Forbes said is protected under common law dating back to at least the early 1980s.