West Virginia's prison population has ballooned, and formerly incarcerated people face numerous obstacles when they are released. A Charleston-based program pairs them with mentors for one year, to help them successfully adjust and reorient their lives.

Amber Blankenship, peer-entry program coordinator with the REACH Initiative, said most people typically have "zero support" after their often traumatizing experiences in the criminal justice system. She added that many are also struggling with substance-use disorders.

"When they're released, we just expect them to make all these decisions and be responsible, and it's just, their brain has to heal," she said. "They have to train their brain back to do that."

Housing, health care and employment all are challenging to find for people coming home. A survey this year by Race Matters and the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy found nearly half of respondents said their biggest worry after leaving prison was coping with the social stigma around their conviction and incarceration.

Blankenship emphasized that the mentorship program is a starting point for creating community and healing.

"People in West Virginia are hurting, they're broken, and they need hope," she said. "They need another individual that has, maybe, a similar story that can build that relationship, build trust."

Sara Whitaker, criminal legal policy analyst at the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, pointed out that prison sentences aren't served alone.

"There are obvious ways that this hurts the people who live with them and who rely on them for care," she said, "but it's particularly bad for children."

She added that one in 10 West Virginia kids has had a parent go to jail or prison. Research shows most incarcerated parents in the Mountain State have one or more children younger than 18 years of age.

In the coming months, Wisconsin residents will hear plenty of arguments before they vote on a constitutional amendment to change state policy on cash bail.

Some say there is a need to protect the public, while others say it is simply time to end the practice. The Republican-led Legislature recently approved putting the question before voters in April.

Under the plan, judges would be required to consider a larger set of factors in deciding whether to grant bail to violent offenders.

Marianne Oleson, executive assistant to the directors for EX-incarcerated People Organizing of Wisconsin, said the conversation should be about eliminating cash bail.

"A bail system that is based on cash is based on what you can afford; where is the community safety in that?" Oleson asked. "Where is the justice in that?"

Her group believes the practice contributes to Wisconsin leading the U.S. in incarcerating Black defendants.

She argued cash bail also disproportionately affects women and their families. Currently in Wisconsin, bail is only tied to court appearances. The amendment's sponsors contended judges should base decisions on more information, including a person's past criminal record, to keep the public safe.

Oleson countered other approaches, such as ending the cash bail system, also keep public safety in mind.

"If an accused came before a judge, accused of a violent crime, there would be no cash bail, that person would stay," Oleson explained. "But a nonviolent offender would be able to be released, continue working, continue being part of their family."

Efforts to eliminate cash bail have surfaced in states like Illinois and California, but the plans have run into obstacles. Sponsors of the Wisconsin amendment have suggested they will introduce language to make it clear only certain types of violent offenses should be applied to a judge's decision-making, if the ballot question is approved.

The Virginia Parole Board has issued a report that outlines its past problems and the steps it could take to rebuild public trust. The work began in 2021, when Governor Glenn Youngkin issued an Executive Order firing the previous parole board and requesting a review of its duties, procedures and administration.

Chadwick Dotson, Virginia Parole Board chair and report author, said the biggest issue is the parole board's lack of transparency in decision making - in part because other reports about its investigations had been heavily redacted by the State Inspector General's Office.

"If we could make the process more public and if we can provide better feedback about each of our decisions - those decisions to not grant or not parole and the decisions to grant parole - people will still disagree, that's going to happen," Dotson said. "But if they can see the decisions were made soundly, based on evidence and with full justification, it provides a little bit more comfort that will hopefully help people accept our decisions."

The report said parole hearings should be open to the public, more staff should be assigned to assist the board in preparing for hearings, and more funding should available to help carry out those hearings.

Dotson noted challenges to implementing these changes, most notably working with a mostly part-time board and staff.

Some recommendations have already been adopted, including revising policy manuals that had not been updated since the 1990s, and improving how parole examiners make recommendations. Dotson said the groundwork has been laid for a better future at the Virginia Parole Board.

"I think we have put together a system that makes sure that everyone has an opportunity for input, and that we're considering all of the things that need to be considered before making any decision," he said. "I think we've really smoothed out the rough edges of the system as well as we can, with our current board composition."

He added part of the responsibility for improvement lies with the General Assembly. The report recommended legislation to require that the parole board seek input of the Commonwealth's Attorneys, and that the governor be required to seek victim input on pardons.

Virginia is the only Southern state to have abolished the death penalty, and there's a new push in the new year to end it nationally as well.

Almost 300 organizations are demanding that President Joe Biden abolish the federal death penalty. This comes as members of Congress have sent a letter to that effect to both Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland. Currently, the U.S. Justice Department has halted federal executions to conduct a review of policies and procedures.

Abraham Bonowitz, executive director of the group Death Penalty Action, described what backers are hoping to accomplish.

"We have a coalition of folks that have been organizing around the questions on the federal death penalty and the President's intention to end federal executions, which - he's put a pause on them, but there's more that the president has the power to do," Bonowitz said. "And we wanted to make sure that that stays on the radar."

In 2021, the Federal Death Penalty Prohibition Act was introduced in both houses of Congress. It would prohibit a death sentence for violations of federal law, and require that anyone convicted before its passage be resentenced. In the House, it's been referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security. In the Senate, it's in the Judiciary Committee.

At the state level, Bonowitz also hopes to work to ensure passage of bills to abolish the death penalty. Virginia is one of 23 states that have done so. At the federal level, he said there are concerns about what can be approved given the disarray in the current session of Congress so far.

"We don't pretend to think that this is a top-priority issue for anybody," he said. "There are no federal executions going forward. However, we want to make sure when something happens that brings this issue to the forefront - which could be any time - that we're ready."

He noted that since the federal moratorium on executions is under the Biden administration, it could be ended should someone else become president in 2024.