Help ensure that incarcerated people and their families stay safe and healthy.

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John,

On Wednesday, the first case of COVID-19 was reported among a Rikers Island detainee ([link removed][UNIQID]) . According to the New York Daily News, this is the first person in New York City custody to contract the virus.

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A Rikers Island Visit Bus turning north from Fulton Mall onto Jay Street in Downtown Brooklyn. Photo: Tdorante10/Wikimedia Commons.
As the COVID-19 health crisis progresses, we are keeping in regular touch with our clients, both those in prison and those who are free. But there is so much work to be done to ensure that incarcerated people and their families have the resources they need to stay safe and healthy. People behind bars endure substandard health care and live in unsanitary and overcrowded conditions, where social distancing is not an option. At the current rate of infection, thousands of people behind bars could become infected and sick. The news of Rikers’ first case is what we’ve been fearing.

From signing petitions to donating to community bail funds to help free people who can’t afford their bail, we’ve compiled a list of ways you can help while still staying home and doing your part to keep yourself and others safe.

Thank you,

The Innocence Project Team

P.S. The list below is just a start — if you know of any other local resources you think we should share, let us know by replying to this email.

Lend your voice to the cause.
* Send a letter to the president, your governor, local prosecutors, sheriffs and other local elected officials to release incarcerated individuals who are elderly, medically vulnerable, or who have a year of their sentence, or less, left. Read more about what legal and policy experts at The Justice Collaborative are calling for and find out how you can send these letters here ([link removed][UNIQID]) .
* Demand humane treatment and action from Gov. Cuomo for people in New York State prisons by signing Color of Change’s petition ([link removed][UNIQID]) .
* Sign this petition ([link removed][UNIQID]) demanding free phone calls for people in prisons during this crisis.
* Send a letter to your local jail ([link removed][UNIQID]) asking them to make video and phone calls free for people in custody.

Donate.
* Many people in jail have not yet been convicted of a crime, yet they are there simply because they cannot afford to pay bail. Community bail funds help to pay their bail on their behalf so they can be released and await trial at home. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, reducing jail populations is one way to help fight the spread of the virus. Donate to your local community bail fund to help bail people out — check out the National Bail Fund Network’s comprehensive directory of bail funds by state to find a fund near you ([link removed][UNIQID]) .
* Donate to the New York Parole Preparation Project. ([link removed][UNIQID]) The organization is sending money directly to people in prison so they can purchase necessities from their local commissaries, including canned goods and soap, which can help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The New York Parole Preparation Project is also sending care packages with necessary items and raising money to cover the costs of phone calls and electronic messaging to enable those who are incarcerated to more easily communicate with people on the outside during this time.


Read more and spread awareness.
* Check out The Marshall Project’s curated list of news coverage ([link removed][UNIQID]) of COVID-19, the justice system, and prisons.
* Read this from The Marshall Project: Tracking Prisons’ Response to Coronavirus ([link removed][UNIQID]) .
* Read this from the Vera Institute of Justice: Coronavirus Guidance for the Criminal and Immigration Legal Systems ([link removed][UNIQID]) .
* Read this account from our client, Paul Hildwin: What It’s Like to Be Freed from Death Row During the COVID-19 Pandemic ([link removed][UNIQID]) .
* And follow these champions of change on Twitter for more updates: @injusticewatch ([link removed][UNIQID]) , @southerncenter ([link removed][UNIQID]) , @helenprejean ([link removed][UNIQID]) , @colorofchange ([link removed][UNIQID]) , @scotthech ([link removed][UNIQID]) , @BklynDefender ([link removed][UNIQID]) , @RDunhamDPIC ([link removed][UNIQID]) .

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The Innocence Project helps exonerate the wrongly convicted through DNA testing and reform the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice.
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