ACLU Supporter –

As Congress moves closer to voting on another COVID-19 relief package, tens of thousands of people in jails, immigrant detention centers, and prisons are running out of time with this virus.

The fact is, reducing our incarcerated populations in the pandemic is critical to stopping its spread. Yet, the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) and the Department of Justice have done far too little to release the most vulnerable from its institutions.

And that negligence is hurting everyone. There's a heightened risk of infection for people who are involved in the criminal legal system – people incarcerated in it, staff, and the communities they go home to. Which means endangering incarcerated people, is endangering everyone.

But Congress can intervene, and we must ensure that happens. Please urge your federal lawmakers to pass the Emergency Community Supervision Act in the next relief package.

Thanks to our collective pressure, the House has included this critical bill in its latest proposal – requiring the BOP to immediately move vulnerable individuals to home confinement or other community supervision outside of prison, where it is safer to quarantine and socially distance. But this hasn't been put to a vote, and the Senate could scrap it soon after. It's up to us to make sure the Emergency Community Supervision Act stays in the latest COVID-19 relief legislation.

In the past two months, the BOP has done little but issue confusing and conflicting guidance on who is eligible for release. And as a result, people are losing their lives.

Andrea Circle Bear, the first federally incarcerated woman to die from COVID-19 in a BOP facility, passed away just 28 days after giving birth. Had the Emergency Community Supervision Act already been authorized, pregnant individuals like Andrea would've been released – in addition to people with underlying health issues and those who are age 50 or older.

We must act now because incompetence is threatening lives and costing our country disgraceful and unnecessary loss. Please, tell Congress to include incarcerated people in the next COVID-19 relief bill – for the safety of our most vulnerable and all of us.

Thanks for taking action,

Udi Ofer
ACLU Deputy National Political Director