Public Comments

This seems like a good one, and a needed one in this day in age. The less my data is stored the better. The less chance for it to be leaked like with what happened with that background checking agency that leaked close to 3 billion identities (2.9b).

I’m a young mother of two small children, ages 1 and 6, and every single day I see posts and stories about kids being killed in accidents caused by negligent drivers. For a moment, if you have kids, put yourself in that situation. You’re driving down the road, your favorite song is playing, your babies are safe in the backseat… and in an instant your whole world shatters. You’re no longer singing along you’re crying over your child because an impaired driver chose to get behind the wheel. No matter your child’s age 1, 6, 20, 25, or 30 they are still someone’s baby, someone’s daughter, someone’s son. When their life is taken, it’s gone forever. That’s a loss you can never, ever get back. Tragedies like this bring deep outrage, especially in small communities where people remember and carry that pain. Honestly, the safest place for a driver responsible for something like that is jail where they can’t hurt anyone else and can’t be harmed themselves. While a victim loses their life, the impaired driver still gets to wake up the next day. That alone is a blessing, and in many ways, compassion enough after taking someone else’s life.

Thousands of children are killed every year, whether it’s them driving under the influence or someone else. The truth is, people who choose to drive impaired often keep doing it unless there are real consequences. Yes, they need may need rehab and help and that should also be provided but they NEED accountability. That means facing SERIOUS punishment so they truly understand the weight of their choices and TRULY get clean of whatever they’re on/using. God sparing their life is mercy enough; they shouldn’t walk free without consequences after taking someone else’s.

I'm all for this. The amount of times i've went into a grocery store like Walmart and seen someones dog make a biohazard mess in the vegetable aisle is too high. Most of the pets i've encountered in these places have been dogs, and a majority were poorly trained, if at all. In addition it makes it harder/ more dangerous for folks with pet allergies to shop as half of the pets were put in buggies. All fine and dandy right? well there's a concentration of hair there and you're moderately allergic to whatever animal was in it last. Now you got to try and find a buggy thats not covered in pet hair, which is probably five buggys back, so you're making a mess in the buggy bay trying to find one thats not fur riddled to shop in peace.

I'm down for this.

Praying for fairer sentencing when lives are taken through selfish acts.  Justice was not served for Mrs Bower.

I'm for this, i've seen my fair share of... very not bright... folks drinking and driving. Especially back when I was in highschool. Which was within the last decade. Nowadays we have plenty of ways to get from point A to B without driving ourselves. We can call an uber, or ride share, we can call a friend or family member, or just something other than drive yourself while impared. They basically have little to no excuse for it. Or heck if you know you're going to be drinking someplace and dont have a solid ride plan on, idk sleeping at a friends place.

. A higher minimum sentence should be inforced and followed thru with for said drivers that have taken a life of someone causing death , Pass this bill.

I feel that making a decision to drive a motor vehicle while impaired, especially causing death should have a mandatory sentence. A family that looses someone doesn't need another heartbreak. A judge in his singularity should not be burdened with making the decision of a smack on the hand or prison.                                 I sincerely believe this bill needs to be passed.

There is a life gone now because someone was driving under the influence. A married woman that was simply driving to church never made it there. She never made it home to her husband that day that was just starting their lives together. She had her whole life ahead of her. She will never get to experience new adventures with her husband, family, and friends and she will never get to become a mother. A daughter was taken from her parents by an act of immaturity that shouldn’t have happened. What the judge ruled in her case was senseless showed negligence and the justice for her was dismissed. This bill is important to be passed to show some kind of justice for Baylee and her family! I pray the right choice will be made for this bill and her family can find some kind of peace out of this tragedy since the judge in her case clearly could not give them that. So please vote for this bill to pass, us fellow West Virginians need some hope that not all of our judicial system is broken. Thank you!

Driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs is a premeditated act and should be treated as such. It is not an accident or a mistake. It is also not taken seriously by offenders nor the justice system. Baylea’s Law would be a great first step in rectifying this attitude held by too many.

All penalties for drunk driving need to be tougher, whether they cause death or not. Our existing laws are so pitiful that they are no deterrent at all. We shouldn’t wait until someone gets killed before we care to enact a sentence.  Passing Baylea’s law would be a good start, but unless we pass laws that require tough mandatory sentences from the first offense, we aren’t dissuading people from driving drunk. Completely eliminate the home confinement loophole. Make jail sentences longer for first and second offenses. A 48 hour jail sentence, when part of it is spent sleeping it off in your cell, isn’t much of a punishment.

Please consider this bill. Far too many West Virginian’s have lost their family members due to impaired driving. There are many reasons why letting someone off so easily can never be okay. If anyone were to oppose this bill, they would have made all family members past, and present feeling as if their family members died in vein and did not get proper justice. Please consider this bill. If it were to be passed, may it be a small portion of peace for families that have lost loved ones. It is their last cries for their family members. Please help protect your fellow West Virginians with this bill; past, present and future.

Hope that the families gets justice

I think it’s a shame you can get high on drugs and alcohol and get behind the wheel of a car kill someone and basically receive a slap on the wrist!!! What on earth is wrong with our judicial system and these judges handing out these barely there sentences for such awful crimes!! We are sick of drunks and dope heads killing our loved ones then some soft judge lets them walk! It needs to stop these people need to be punished and severely punished!

This bill should not be of question if it should be passed. Making the choice to drive so impaired, is murder. The consequences should absolutely represent that.

I think this bill should go into affect. They are to many people thats losing there lifes do to drinking and driving accidents. I think that they need to be harsher punishment for this! Please pass this bill! Thanks!

The travesty that took place with the sentence that was issued for Baylee’s killer is horrific ruling and miscarriage of justice and this bill would eliminate the possibility of that ever happening again. So PLEASE pass this bill swiftly and with the harshest punishment possible! Thank you

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DUIs resulting in death should have harsher punishments. Period.

This bill is important for our state, especially after todays sentencing of Destiny Lester is proof of that. There has been stronger sentencing handed out for animal abuse in this state. For a 18 year old  to walk away with no jail time after dui causing death is disgusting we have to do better.

There needs to be higher penalties for impaired and drunk drivers killing killing innocent people

This bill needs approved by the legislature and the senate. There needs to be tougher penalties for those that decide to drive under the influence. What happened to Baylea Bower is very sad. Her family and friends have to grieve her because of a selfish act by another. That girl deserves more than she’s getting. How will others learn if there’s no real consequences for their actions. Sincerely, From someone who wants to see a change in this law!

Pass the bill, make a difference that will help families not suffer like the Craigs

I vote in favor of this bill

Please pass this bill so that families receive proper justice when a preventable death occurs at the hands of a drunk. There needs to be a stiffer penalty to help deter drunk driving. Make it known who the real victims are in these situations. What if it was your family member?

Please consider this bill

What happened today in Raleigh County is a prime example as to why WV needs this bill! People should be held accountable for their actions and not just get a slap on the wrist!

Please fight for the passing of Baylea’s Bill.

Baylea never deserved any of this. She needs justice. No one else needs to go through was her friend and family have went through.

I support Baileys law

This legislation is needed because of the judicial recklessness we have in our country and state right now. The person responsible for all this made up her mind to do what she did that night without any thought to consequences and she appears to have beat the system we believed would bring justice. She is at fault, the judge is at fault and we as a community have to suffer for what these two people have done.

Please pass Baylea law for drunk and impaired drives! No one deserves to have to bury their child because a sorry individual chose to drink and drive and kill them! It infuriates me that a judge never even gave the drunk driver jail time she should have got the maximum sentence, and for that poor family that was a slap in the face today! Please pass this law so no other family will hve to go through what this poor family is going through! It’s sad as a state it has to come to this  and get a law passed to make it more harsher for an individual drinking and driving this should never even be happening! As a state we should be protecting our people from people drinking and driving! Also for whoever is reading these what if this was your family member! Let’s get this law passed please and as fast as possible just maybe we can save another heartache or death to another family!

This bill needs to be passed. Please do this to help encourage making better decisions and keeping others alive.

Baylea Nevada Craig Bower deserved way more than the hand she was dealt. This new bill would allow families in the future that are affected by drunk drivers more justice than Baylea was awarded.

This bill is extremely important for Justice for families who suffer from the tragic loss of lives and or injuries of family members impacted by the senseless and careless acts of others who choose to get behind the wheel of a vehicle while under the influence! Maximum sentencing, maximum conviction, the lives impacted and the loss of a loved one can never be reversed or replaced but at least by having this bill in place then any future court proceedings will enforce judges to give justice for those impacted! Justice was not given for Baylea, her family, her friends and loved ones, so let’s put a bill in place for the future generations to think twice about such incompetence and inconsiderate acts..

Please pass this Bill this is one Bill that needed attention for so many years.Justice For Baylea.

I agree

The Bower/Craig family will not be the last family to go through this, it could be your family next.  We need to have strict laws that will be held up in a court and not have a judge to be able to suspend sentencing. I am begging you to pass Baylea’s law!!

I hope this law passes. I’m sick of seeing innocent people lose their lives over drugs and alcohol.

Please pass this bill!!  

Baylea Craig-Bower was killed Easter Sunday in 2025 because Destany Lester, 19, decided to get behind the wheel after drinking excessive amounts of alcohol, smoking marijuana, and getting high on cocaine. Destany was so intoxicated that she passed through a grassy median going 90mph and hit Baylea head on. Baylea did not deserve this. Baylea’s family and friends did not deserve this. Baylea was just trying to go home to be with her family on Easter Sunday. Destany Lester is selfish. She chose to get drunk and high and get behind the wheel. After today’s sentencing I ENCOURAGE you to take a deep dive into the laws that occur for DUI’s that result in murder. It is honestly such an injustice that Destany is spending less than the minimum sentencing for murdering Baylea. Please, consider yourself in the shoes of Baylea’s family and friends. What if this was your daughter or loved one? I know YOU would want and expect a harsher sentence. Let’s set an example today. Baylea’s law needs to be passed. The laws in WV are not strict enough. People like Destany just get a slap on the wrist for ruining the lives of Baylea’s husband, family, and friends. Make people think twice before drinking and driving. Baylea’s life could not have been saved, but I believe Baylea’s Law could save thousands. Be the example that we need in WV. PASS BAYLEAS LAW. #JusticeForBaylea

I support “Baylee’s Bill” resulting in harsher sentences for those convicted of causing death or injury while driving under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol.

You see what happened today, the injustice, the family left to grieve knowing the murderer who killed their child got a slap on the wrist a time out per say. Hold these criminals accountable hold the judges accountable. This is the most disgusting justice I’ve ever seen or heard of.

What a SHAME letting this girl go home as Baylee’s family has to go home without her. Absolutely mind blowing!! I, myself have been a victim of dui in 2006 and now in 2025, I suffer from a lot of injuries and ailments. I’ll never be the same. Why are we the ones to suffer and the drunk/cracked out drivers run free!!! They need to FIRE all these judges and whomever else that don’t wanna lay the laws down. Very saddened for Bayleas’s family. What a slap in the face from the ones that are supposed to be helping victims!! Wake up.

This bill appears to be redundant as we already have laws and regulations that require law enforcement to identify themselves, wear standard uniforms and badges and advise the reason for their presence. If asked during a traffic stop they are required to give their name/badge number (which can also be seen on their proper uniform). Officers are also already REQUIRED to give name, badge number or contact info for the department to file a complaint against an officer. Exception being undercover as this bill would allow as well. I encourage you to vote NO on this bill as it is an unneeded piece of legislation likely submitted to ride the propaganda coattails.

This bill should be considered. Although no amount of sentencing will comfort the victim’s family and friends left behind, an extension would be beneficial. The number of DUI incidents is increasing every day because, in my opinion, people are not taking the consequences seriously. Driving while intoxicated is very frightening, and the thought of bringing my family onto the road with others who do this daily terrifies me. I wish more people understood how easily a life can be lost for a few moments of “fun.”

We need this bill to pass so people will think more about the consequences of drinking and driving.   Families shouldn’t haft to bury their children because someone didn’t think.   If there were stiffer penalties, maybe they will think twice.

Changing House Bill 4712 to have stronger consequences is imperative to decrease the chance of  innocent people losing their life.  If a person is proven to be impaired while driving a vehicle, which result in the death of another human, they shall be held accountable for willfully making that decision, which will result in harsh accountability consequences! When that person chooses to operate a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or substance abuse, they choose to give up their right to have freedom, until which time they have served the punishment, as stated by law!

I believe this law should be approved because there is so many precious lives being taken way to soon. Because ignorant people choose the wrong choices when it comes to driving.

Please make this bill into a law to help keep Baylea’s legacy alive. It may help others to rethink drinking and driving.

This needs to be passed due to people not being given proper sentences

The law needs changed to 6 years minimum sentence and 30 years max for DUI to maybe deter people from driving under the influence.

I am writing today in support of House Bill 4712. Sometimes change can only happen after something tragic occurs, which is this scenario. Currently, the penalty for causing a death while driving under the influence is merely laughable. Crimes against animals have a higher penalty than this and we cannot let this continue. In addition, if someone willingly gets behind the wheel of a vehicle, when they know they should not be, their sentence should NOT be lower than the minimal penalty. Please consider bringing justice for future families to know that some kind of justice can be served when they lose a loved one.

JUSTICE FOR BAYLEA!

I am Bailey Craig Nather and Moore happened to my family today February 12 was a mockery. I feel like my family and our family friends and community were victimized by a judge instead of giving a sentence to a girl that played guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol and cocaine and under age received a sentence which should’ve been in between three and 15 years this just suspended the sentence and gave her six months at home and then 18 months at a daycare center. Basically we need things to change. Hopefully, starting with this judge Darrell Polly

#JusticeFotBaylea

Getting behind the wheel drunk is a choice you make. With that decision you put countless lives in jeopardy. Please make these laws stricter to make the roads safer for our loved ones.

We need change in WV.

Baylea Bower had her life taken away by someone driving under the influence. That person basically gets to walk free now. No jail time for ending a person’s life. Driving while intoxicated isn’t an accident, it’s a choice. The people who make this choice and cause injury or death should absolutely serve jail time. They need to be held accountable for their actions. Lenient sentencing, like the recent one in Raleigh County, is only telling West Virginians that they can drink and drive, kill someone else and completely get away with it.

I think the bill should pass due to all the cause of deaths that’s accrued! Also would teach other that they should face consequences to to taking a innocent persons life.

Vote No on HB 4600.

Since Baylea didn’t receive justice, let’s make sure this doesn’t happen to anyone else. We, as a society, need to make sure people are held accountable for their actions. If you don’t vote to pass this bill, it’s another slap in the face to a young woman who lost her life to a reckless teenager. Don’t let her name die in vain.

This bill includes very broad generalized language that leaves much to interpretation. Including the ability of "concerned citizens" to stalk people and dox businesses and private citizens. I urge you to burn this bill and never try to enter anything like this again.

The punishment for these crimes arent even a fraction of what they should be. Fix it now.

This is LONG overdo! Justice had entirely too much power during his shutdowns of our state businesses that ended up permanently ending so many WV businesses and cost us in population decline as well! Please get this to the floor for a vote!

I believe this bill should be passed!

When you drink and get behind the wheel, you are taking a chance on killing innocent people. To me that is one step away from murder.

Yes

This bill needs to be passed, harsher penalties may make people think harder about the decisions they make.

This is Necessary in every aspect. Baylea’s Law might save more lives and make people second guess the decision to drive drunk. Harsher penalties for driving under the influence should be a no brainer.

I fully support this bill. Taking someone’s life in a reckless manor should never be a slap on the wrist.

This is something that should’ve been done a LONG time ago. There are to many people loosing their lives because one or more persons chooses to make stupid decisions! How many lives do we have to loose before something is ACTUALLY done?!

Anyone walking around taking people, with their face covered, is kidnapping.  This should never be tolerated.  Wearing a mask while sick to protect others is entirely different.

I support Baylea’s Bill

Now, more than ever, we need Baylea's law for future justice!

Justice should be served for Baylea! May this never happen to anyone else!

I strongly support this bill. It is important that people be able to clearly identify law enforcement as legitimate law enforcement to avoid having criminals pretend they are cops. It is also important that LEOs be personally identifiable so they can be held to account in cases where they do not obey guidelines and violate the public's civil rights. This bill is a good start, but it needs to go further and require that law enforcement wear a badge or other indicia that clearly identify them as such, and that they were a name badge so they can be identified in the event there are issues. We don't have secret police in this country. No law enforcement officers should be unaccountable to the public they are supposed to protect and who pay their salaries.

We need a better justice system. It’s disgusting.

Driving under the influence is a choice. So the person doing it makes a choice to kill someone else using a vehicle instead some other way. So sad.

No one deserves to walk away free after choosing to put someone else’s life at risk by choosing to drink and drive! People like Baylea, as compassionate, kind, loving as she was, should not be taken from this world as soon as she was and the way she was.

Three years ago, I was finishing my last year of college.

In what feels like a blink of an eye, three years have passed. Life moved forward. Seasons changed. Milestones happened.

For Baylea, time stopped.

Under current West Virginia law, the minimum sentence for DUI resulting in death is three years.

Three years.

No one who takes a life because they chose to drive impaired should view three years as a brief chapter that “went by fast.”

When a family receives a lifetime sentence of loss, accountability should reflect that permanence.

That is why “Baylea’s Law” matters.

Justice needs to be served.

Impaired drivers take the lives of those who are innocent each year more times than they should. Impaired drivers get let off easy, while the family of the victim is left to suffer, grieve, and spend money getting justice for their loved one. Why? Why are criminals let off easy? Is that justice? I don’t believe so. In support of House Bill 4712, individuals will be forced to think twice before getting behind the wheel impaired. In what world are criminals the victims, and the actual victims criminals? Apparently here, in the United States In our hometowns. 2 cases of drinking and driving in WV have both been a war to get justice. Baylea Bower, Jordan Butcher, & James Isaac’s. All 3 died due to drunk drivers. Each driver of those vehicles were impaired and not one has been sentenced to consequences for their actions. Only a tap on the wrist. Absolutely ridiculous. It is NEVER okay to take someone’s precious life. Especially while impaired. A minimum sentence of 3 years for taking someone’s life is ridiculous. That isn’t enough time to receive a degree, let alone learn a lesson of basic human decency. With House Bill 4712, we can improve the outcome of these victims lives and make them an example of something bigger than drinking and driving.

I support HB 5479 because transparency and accountability are essential to public trust. Law enforcement officers exercise significant authority, and the public has a right to know who is exercising that authority. Allowing officers to conceal their identity with masks or by covering badge numbers makes accountability difficult and weakens confidence in the system.

This bill does not undermine law enforcement — it supports professionalism and protects both citizens and officers who serve honorably. Clear identification helps build trust between West Virginians and those sworn to protect them.

Thank you! Im so glad to see our leaders taking action to protect West Virginians from masked agents. Unmasking means accountability. More accountability, please!

She deserves justice that she didn’t get

Please vote NO on HB4600. This bill would disenfranchise people who are temporarily out of state or who are studying out of state from voting! Why would you do that? I have two children who are voters who go to college out of state and who have voted legally for candidates that they support while they are attending college. Please vote no! Thank you

I had contacted my representative Laura Wakim Chapman a few weeks ago about my case and story and she told me she'd like to introduce a bill similar to this on my behalf as my story is the worst she's heard. As a survivor of childhood sexual abuse  and other trauma I had been diagnosed with CPTSD, depression and anxiety. I've worked on my mental health for almost a decade starting in 2018 when my daughter was born. I left a verbally and mentally abusive marriage in 2022 for the safety of my child and myself. I was a single mom and primary caregiver with minimum help from the father.   In December of 2023 my daughter came home and told me she was inappropriately touched in her dads new girlfriends home by another individual (he moved in after knowing her 3 months). I contacted all avenues, CPS, State Police, and she was interviewed by Harmony House, the child advocacy agency who stated this happened to her. She described masturbation and ejaculation. He ejaculated on her belly. She was 5. I had her in therapy immediately and was handling this all on my own as her dad did not believe her and was covering for the abuser. In April of 2024 after a verbal altercation with my ex and the trigger of sexual assault happening to my daughter at the same age that it happened to me, I tried to take my life. I immediately got help, I sought treatment, while in treatment my ex filed emergency custody of our child. I immediately tried to get her back. Our case was in Ohio and was dismissed due to jurisdiction as my ex lied about his address (to avoid WV vehicle taxes). The magistrate Judge said a child had been through enough, I was seeking proper treatment, and a child needs both parents. During this my ex's mother went to my daughters babysitter and took her to her home in Belpre, Oh. I drove there and called the state police as I had legal rights to my child and they told me if I stepped foot on her property they'd arrest me for trespassing as I did not have "paperwork" showing I had rights to my child. They kept my daughter from school as I would legally be able to pick her up, and they refiled for emergency custody in West Virginia and it was granted. My attorney didn't practice in WV and I had to try and find a new one to take my case which took a couple of weeks.  The judge has never watched the tape evidence that has been brought up several times of my child's sexual assault, the court ordered visitations at the YWCA, the visitation director overheard my child saying inappropriate things and called CPS. The CPS case worker, went to high school with my ex. Based on his attorneys lies, she currently has ethical violations against her being charged for multiple counts of exposing a child's information and a felony count for intimating a witness in  a murder trial she submitted "evidence" a letter written by my exes stepfather who was not at the YWCA CPS investigation (not even signed) stating I was manipulating my child at my YWCA visits when all conversations are overheard. The YWCA director of visitations went to a court hearing on my behalf and everything she said was overruled as "hearsay" all though this is a court appointed agency, the woman cried leaving the court house. This individual is trained in recognizing domestic violence and told me she believes me, she believes my daughter. She told me he was a classic manipulator.  I lost visitation with my child for 6 months because of the YWCA trying to advocate for my child. I am not told about doctors appointments, or school meetings which is unlawful on all parties.  I have had to have psych evaluations (thousands out of pocket)  in which they are basing my "unfitness" on. I have been diagnosed with (Borderline Personality Disorder) BPD, and due to the courts stating my current therapist was unqualified to diagnose me after being with the behavioral health agency since 2018, I had to start over and seek a new therapist who also has stated that I do not have BPD that CPTSD can mimic symptoms of BPD (both therapist have stated this). In my research I have found that the psychiatrist I used has staff who have been investigated  by the WV Board of Examiners of Psychologists for falsifying reports, misdiagnosing, and requiring drug tests when the case did not involve drug treatment. I too had to take drug and alcohol testing (out of my pocket) in which I passed although my case is not based on drug addiction, I had to take a 6 week parenting course, I pay over $700 in child support a month for a child I am fighting to see. My ex called and lied to the state that I was not paying him which our court order stated money orders, so my wages were garnished and I overpaid $3,000 (have not been reimbursed). I was blackmailed to take down social media posts about domestic violence laws in other states, and posts about my grief and advocating for mental health if I wanted to get visitation back with my daughter. I get one hour a week with her supervised and that's if he doesn't cancel. I got 15 minutes with her while being stood over on her birthday and I get no holidays. My ex has not followed the court order of allowing more time if the YWCA allows. All while dealing with the custody of our child, and a divorce process going on 3 years my ex has also destroyed the home I purchased (his grandparents home), breaking in destroying the place, calling the house insurance company claiming it was abandoned so they would take out electric panels etc, so that I can not sell the home for its value because only I am on the deed, he stole items from the house including family heirlooms, and when I changed the locks he broke back in to change them back, he wouldn't sign a mortgage refinance plan so the mortgage would be lowered since I am financially drowning. He sold a marital camper out from under neath me and I have seen no reimbursement. He is trying to ruin me financially, emotionally, and mentally all through the court system and has had an unethical attorney helping him. I have paid over $50,000 fighting to get my child back with basically no help from my attorney accept collecting a check, and they want me to pay his attorney fees even though they're dragging this out including my August and December court hearings being cancelled because of his attorneys criminal acts. I have completed everything they have wanted, and I am no closer to my child. I take medication, I go to therapy weekly while dealing with the worst trauma of all, knowing my child is unsafe and I can't get to her. My brother in law came to court to speak on my behalf that I was abused in the marriage, that I was primary caregiver, and that my child was safest with me. My ex and his mother got a restraining order against their own brother and son to further silence me. The judge goes along with everything his attorney says, even according to my attorney not properly following law but there is no check and balances on these judges. When leaving my last court hearing my attorney told me " I don't even have words for you". They have claimed I am unsafe to my child but have put her in a home full time with her sexual abuser, and is being emotionally, mentally, and verbally abused by her dad and his girlfriend. My daughter begs to come home, she is scared and no one in the legal system that is in place to protect children is helping her. This has been going on for 2 years with no end in site. No targets met. It just keeps moving. I left an abusive man and now he abuses me with the legal system behind him and through withholding my child from me and isolating her so she can not speak on the abuse in the home.  Mental Health is not a crime but mine has been criminalized. My child has never been in danger on my behalf, she is loved and cherished. I don't have a CPS case against me.  My rights have been violated.  I need help. We need laws making abuse on all fronts illegal and punishable, we need laws upholding the justice system: judges and attorneys to higher ethical standards, an ethic violation when regarding children should remove them from all cases involving children and investigate their other cases, we need laws to protect women and children from allowing abusers to hide behind court dockets and lies. In 2026 the fact judges and attorneys aren't held to these standards is appalling. Manipulation training for judges. Unethical attorneys immediately removed from cases while they are out on bond. Believing children and women when they say they are abused.   The current court order from his attorney is stating I should pay child support and continue visitations until my daughter is 18. She is 7. I have 30 days to respond for a final order to be put in place and I'm afraid I'm going to lose my child to these lies and abuse cover ups.  I am fully capable to be her mom. I am her safe place. A daughter needs her mother. Unfortunately, I have learned men aren't natural protectors, women/mothers are.  Abusers protect no one but themselves. Please help me.   Thanks, Savannah

Did I just see the punishment for this dui death was 6 months probation? If that’s not enough for the legislature to pass 4712 I don’t know what is. We keep hearing we need to be tough on sex offenders and drug dealers but drunk drivers in this state are a greater threat to our youngsters AND their loved ones. They are literally committing manslaughter and possibly 2nd degree murder every time they get behind a wheel.

No one should face Baylea and her family’s reality, but unfortunately, as long as people keep making stupid, selfish decisions. The least we can do is get justice for the victims. Unfortunately, this wouldn’t have even helped Baylea given the judge’s idiotic sentencing for the individual who selfishly took Baylea’s life, but I have to hope that this will bring justice to someone someday in Baylea’s name. Don’t let West Virginia be brought down by our joke of sentencing for those who MURDER others. Please, I urge anyone voting on this to imagine if this was your child, parent, sibling, friend, etc. What kind of justice would you want for them?

Some of the language in this bill is concerning and seems like it would disenfranchise people and make voting more complicated than it should be. I do not support this bill.