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Tell Congress:
"We must protect everyone in our country from being exposed to COVID-19, including those in jails and prisons. Congress must enact measures that ensure essential care is made available to people who are incarcerated, including: testing, hospitalizing those who are seriously ill, and providing appropriate protective equipment and basic hygiene necessities."
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John,
Incarcerated people are two-and-a-half times as likely as the general population to become infected by COVID-19.1 Just look at this Washington Post headline:
It’s critical that Congress acts immediately to protect the health of everyone in our country—and that must include people in prisons or jails.
Join CHN and our allies! Sign the petition to Congress and fight to ensure care and prevention measures are accessible to everyone in our country—including those who are incarcerated!
The New York Times recently wrote an editorial about exactly this issue, writing succinctly, "Social distancing in prisons is nearly impossible."2
The spread of infectious diseases is accelerated in prisons. Overcrowding, limited medical care, and underlying chronic illnesses create difficult conditions to stop the spread of COVID-19. State prisons throughout our country have already reported high inmate infections and deaths as a result of the pandemic.
To stop the spread of the coronavirus amongst this vulnerable population of Americans, we must reduce the number of people in prison by releasing the elderly, pretrial detainees, and those with pre-existing illnesses. Courts should also immediately suspend sentencing people for low-level crimes and technical violations like violating probation or parole. We cannot afford to overcrowd our prisons during a pandemic.
Congress must enact measures that ensure essential care is available to people who are incarcerated, including: testing, hospitalizing those who are seriously ill, and providing appropriate protective equipment and basic hygiene necessities.
It is the duty of Congress to ensure everyone is protected from COVID-19. There is no time to lose. We must unite our voices, and get the attention of Congress on this issue.
Add your name! Join CHN and our national coalition and sign the petition to Congress. Together, let's remind Congress it is their responsibility to ensure everyone is protected from COVID-19!
Thank you for your support during this challenging time,
Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, Coalition on Human Needs
1 https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/05/01/stopping-covid-19-behind-bars-was-an-achievable-moral-imperative-we-failed/
2 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/23/opinion/coronavirus-prisons.html
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