Category: Jails
Correctional officers are driving the pandemic in prisons
New research shows correctional officers are vectors of infection, driving COVID-19 rates both inside prisons and in their communities. While prison may isolate people from the larger community, it does not isolate them from COVID-19. Scott…
ACLU sues Trump Admin. to obtain key records on federal handling of Coronavirus pandemic in prisons
The suit seeks “the immediate release of improperly withheld agency records related to federal government’s failed response to the spread of Covid-19 in prisons in jails.” by Brett Wilkins, staff writer Wednesday, October 21 The American…
When “usual residence” is a prison
Census method of counting prisoners distorts demographics. by Jonathan Thompson, High Country News If a demographer were to draw up a profile of eastern Colorado’s Crowley County using the most recent census data, it would appear…
108,000 US inmates infected with Covid-19
Among prisoners, the death rate from the potentially fatal virus is three times higher than average. Report: Only 7% of Inmates’ Loved Ones Say Prisoners Have Soap and Other Basic Necessities to Stop the Spread of…
Saying ICE has ‘Lost the right to be trusted,’ Federal Judge orders mandatory testing at detention center hit by Covid-19
Court order follows an outbreak at the Mesa Verde Detention Center and evidence that officials opted not to test detainees for fear of positive test results. by Lisa Newcomb, staff writer Thursday, August 6 A federal…
As the coronavirus rages in prisons, ethical issues of crime and punishment become more compelling
A 1970 image of prisoners in cell blocks at Rikers Island Prison. Bettmann / Contributor/Bettmann via Getty Images by Austin Sarat, Amherst College Thursday, August 6 Across the United States, prisons and jails have become hot…
Supreme Court rules jail does not have to provide basic protections to inmates
As Prisons Across US Report Surge in Covid-19 Cases “There is no legal principle justifying this stay. The only ‘principle’ animating it is the belief of the Republican appointees to the Court that prisoners are subhuman.”…
The prison was built to hold 1,500 inmates. It had over 2,000 Coronavirus cases.
Prison overcrowding has been quietly tolerated for decades. But the pandemic is forcing a reckoning. by Dara Lind Thursday, June 18, 11 am. MST Jason Thompson lay awake in his dormitory bed in the Marion Correctional…
Coronavirus in jails and prisons
Despite early warnings, jails and prisons have seen a rapid spread of the virus—a humanitarian disaster that puts all of our communities, and lives, at risk. Every day, The Appeal examines the scale of the crisis,…
What the coronavirus crisis reveals about vulnerable populations behind bars and on the streets
by Stephanie Hartwell, Wayne State University; Ijeoma Nnodim Opara, Wayne State University, and Sheryl Kubiak, Wayne State University The notion that COVID-19 is an equal opportunity killer has crumbled. The health and economic fallout from…
