Before an outbreak occurs, as many people as possible need to be
released from prisons, jails, and detention centers.
[ [link removed] ][IMG]
Sign the platform: Demand federal, state and local officials protect
incarcerated people from COVID-19.
[ [link removed] ][IMG]
John,
[ [link removed] ]Mass incarceration is now more than ever a massive public health
crisis--and officials must act NOW to save lives.^1 Coronavirus has
already started to make its way into jails, prisons, and immigrant
detention centers. The first incarcerated person to test positive for
Coronavirus is in Long Island’s county jail and hasn’t been released to
medical care. And now a second incarcerated person has contracted the
virus on Rikers Island.^2,3
Here’s why that’s terrifying: jails, prisons, and immigrant detention
centers are sites of overcrowding, poor sanitation, and pest infestations,
all of which make these cages incubators for disease. Incarcerated people
are packed into close quarters and forced to share spaces such as
bathrooms and showers. And worst of all, our folks are not given the basic
necessities like soap, hand sanitizer, and other medical supplies. So how
could we expect these places to care for them during a global pandemic?
Not to mention, hundreds of thousands of people, mostly correctional
staff, cycle in and out of these places every day, guaranteeing the spread
of COVID-19 beyond the facility to the larger public. With 2.3 million
people in the United States in prison or jail on any given day, an
outbreak in these facilities poses a threat to the entire country.
Public officials have DAYS, not weeks, to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Releasing as many people as possible from cages and stopping the flow of
people into them is the best way to do it. That is why Color Of Change
came together with over 60 organizations representing directly impacted
people, advocates, and legal experts to develop a platform that outlines
several ways public and private actors can save lives before it’s too
late. We need your help to apply pressure and force officials to take a
proactive approach. John, will you sign onto the platform?
[ [link removed] ]Sign the platform: Humanity, not cages, is what will get us through the
Coronavirus outbreak.
The worst place for anyone to be during a global pandemic is inside of a
jail, prison, or detention center. Before an outbreak occurs, as many
people as possible need to be released from prisons, jails, and detention
centers. People who test positive for COVID-19 should be immediately
released to a medical care facility, away from the rest of the
incarcerated population--not held within the prison, jail, or detention
center. The people who remain confined need access to adequate medical
care and prevention supplies free of charge, to be able to contact their
loved ones.
Disregard for the humanity of incarcerated people, not common sense, is
driving officials to prioritize punishment over the country’s well being.
In response to this crisis, many officials are putting facilities on
lockdown, sending sick individuals to solitary confinement and trying to
quarantine folks inside jails.
* In Delaware County, PA, a prison employee recently tested positive for
COVID-19.^4 As a result, public officials quarantined 34 people
suspected of coming in contact with the individual within the jail.
They have no plans to release people into medical care facilities and
are risking the spread of the disease within the facility.
* Washington State Department of Corrections has been quarantining folks
ever since a correctional officer tested positive for the virus.
Administrators have not taken any steps to create or tighten protocols
that will keep facilities clean and safe. In fact, incarcerated folks
were instructed to use old dirty socks to cover phone receivers when
calling their loved ones as they scrambled to get to phones during
their only 30-minute break outside the prison cell.^5 This is how the
disease spreads.
* Officials are also putting barriers to due process that will keep
people in jails longer. In several states across the country including
Georgia and Louisiana, legal visits have been suspended indefinitely.
If an attorney cannot meet with a client, then their case will
inevitably slow down and violate that person's constitutional rights.
More recently, the Prince George’s County courthouse announced that
only limited bail review will be held until mid-April. A person
waiting to have their bond reviewed will languish in a jail cell for
at least one month, far beyond what would be allowed under typical
circumstances.
It does not have to be this way. Some officials are starting to respond to
the demands of the people and are taking action to not only protect our
public health but to protect the fundamental rights of those incarcerated
as well. Los Angeles’ Sheriff announced they have already released 600
people from the county jail and officials in Cleveland plan to release
hundreds of people awaiting trial as a way to combat the virus. In
Philadelphia, the police department has been instructed to stop arrests of
low-level offenses to slow the flow of people into jails. These are all
small steps in the right direction.^6,7 Right now, we have the opportunity
to come together and force public officials from local municipalities all
the way to the federal government to understand the urgency of the moment
and make immediate changes to better respond to this emergency.
[ [link removed] ]Demand federal, state and local officials protect incarcerated people
from a COVID-19 outbreak.
John, all of this brings back the painful memory of the
humanitarian crisis that started Color Of Change. In the midst of
Hurricane Katrina in 2006, thousands of Black people were left to fend for
themselves and in the process, criminalized just for trying to survive.
Incarcerated people suffered as the floodwaters surrounded them. And the
healthcare system collapsed, forcing medical professionals to make the
unbelievable choice between who lived and who died. At that time, we saw
clearly who the state deemed worthy of protection and who the state
considered disposable. Here we are again. In 2020, government officials
are presenting us with another false choice. We have an obligation to
steer the course of history in a different direction.
It is in these moments that we clearly see why we must keep working
towards a future without mass incarceration. Incarcerated people deserve
our care, dignity, and respect. They are our sisters, brothers, mothers,
and fathers. And we reject any hard line that separates us from our loved
ones inside cages. We are one community. We will push and work hard every
single day towards a world where our collective impulse is not to punish
but to support and protect each other. No human being should be condemned
to preventable illness and possible death. If there was ever a time that
clearly makes plain the injustice of putting humans in cages, it is now.
[ [link removed] ]Take action: I will not leave any of my people behind. My community
needs a just and humane response to the coronavirus outbreak NOW.
Until justice is real,
--Clarise, Rashad, Arisha, Scott, Erika, Malachi, Marybeth, Leonard,
Madison, and the rest of the Color Of Change team
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
References:
1. [ [link removed] ]"The Corona Virus could Spark a Humanitarian Crisis in Jails and
Prisons." Slate, 11 March 2020
2. [ [link removed] ]"Coronavirus Update: Long Island Inmate put in isolation after
testing positive for COVID-19." ABC News, 17 March 2020.
3. [ [link removed] ]Rikers Island inmate has contracted coronavirus: officials." Daily
News, 18 March 2020.
4. [ [link removed] ]"Prison Inmates and employees exposed to COVID-19 are asymptomatic
after eight days." Daily Times, 15 March 2020.
5. "[ [link removed] ]Here's What Happened to Two Prisoners When a Guard got the
Coronavirus." Buzzfeed News, 18 March 2020
6. [ [link removed] ]"L.A. County Release Some Inmates from Jail to Combat
Coronavirus." Los Angeles Times, 16 March 2020.
7. [ [link removed] ]"With Courts Closed to Pandemic, Philly police stop low-level
arrests to manage jail crowding." The Philadelphia Inquirer, 18 March
2020.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
[ [link removed] ]Color Of Change is building a movement to elevate the voices of Black
folks and our allies, and win real social and political change. [ [link removed] ]Help
keep our movement strong.
<style type="text/css">
blockquote .original-only,
.WordSection1 .original-only
{
display: none !important;
}
</style>
<div class=".original-only">
You can unsubscribe from this mailing list at any time:
[link removed]
</div>
