Dankr.ca – Your Toronto Connection
Article by Emma Spears, Growth Op
Fears over COVID-19 spread and challenges practising adequate hygiene and social distancing put North America’s prison inmates at an exceptionally high risk of contracting the virus and potentially turning a light sentence into a death sentence.
That’s why some regions in the U.S. and Canada are mulling the benefits of granting early release to inmates convicted of, or awaiting trial for, non-violent crimes such as cannabis possession. Other jurisdictions, though, have already started that process.
Given prisons are often near, at or over maximum capacity, and inmates are in extremely close proximity, the institutions can rapidly become a hotbed of COVID-19 contagion. The virus can survive on surfaces and in the air, as well as be transmitted by bodily fluids such as saliva droplets emitted while coughing, sneezing or speaking.
Last weekend, Chief Justice Stuart Rabner of the New Jersey Supreme Court ordered the release of inmates accused or convicted of non-violent infractions such as disorderly conduct, petty crimes, probation violations, low-level felonies and potentially those with municipal court convictions.
“The reduction of county jail populations, under appropriate conditions, is in the public interest to mitigate risks imposed by COVID-19,” Justice Radner wrote. Experts had “reviewed certifications from healthcare professionals regarding the profound risk posed to people in correctional facilities arising from the spread of COVID-19,” he noted.
There has already been a coronavirus outbreak on Rikers Island, in which more than 50 prisoners and multiple staff members — neither of whom are reported to have been allotted personal protective equipment or additional cleaning supplies — have contracted the illness so far.
“Rikers Island is more reactionary than preventative… [administrators] wait for things to happen first before they do anything about it,” an unnamed guard toldTime. “‘We feel like all of us are gonna get corona.”
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This week, New York City mayor Bill de Blasio announced the early release of approximately 1,000 prisoners in an attempt to mitigate COVID-19 spread. The city is considered the epicentre of the U.S. outbreak.
De Blasio has also said that he intends to look into the release of inmates over the age of 70. However, not all will qualify, particularly those accused of crimes such as sexual assault or domestic violence.
“Some have many months, some have only a few months, some have only weeks, but I’m going to treat this category across the board,” de Blasio said during a press conference “We will move to release those 300 inmates immediately.
Florida is also releasing inmates as state prisons go on lockdown, as has Cuyahoga County, in Ohio.
The East Coast is certainly not alone in releasing prisoners early. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has released about 600 prisoners so far. The L.A. County jail system is one of the largest in the country, with an estimated 22,000 inmates.
