‘Situation is just going to get worse,’ union rep warns as first federal inmate dies of coronavirus

‘Situation is just going to get worse,’ union rep warns as first federal inmate dies of coronavirus
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Ronald Morris, a union president and maintenance supervisor at the Louisiana prison, was at a hospital checking on an ill prisoner when he told NBC News the “situation is just going to get worse and worse as time goes on. The level of anxiety and fear among our staff is increasing daily,” he said. Advocates throughout the country are pushing for early release for low-level offenders and those nearing the end of their prison sentences.

Supreme courts in New Jersey, South Carolina, Washington, and Wyoming acted to reduce prison populations with early release earlier this month, according to The Appeal. Udi Ofer, of the ACLU, told the Appeal, “there’s a tremendous need for state leadership. It would be impossible to go county by county, city by city right now to save us from this overwhelming health crisis. We need leadership from the top, and clear guidance to local authorities and officials,” Ofer told the news nonprofit. He tweeted Sunday: “We need immediate action from President Trump 2 safely release people most vulnerable.”

The Bureau of Prisons has laid out steps it has taken to reduce the spread of the virus in its facilities in a news release Tuesday. “In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bureau of Prisons is taking aggressive steps to protect the safety and security of all staff, and inmates, as well as visitors and members of the public,” the bureau said. The bureau took inventory of cleaning and medical supplies to make sure they have “ample supplies” on hand and enacted other measures to slow the spread of COVID-19.

“These measures include temporary restrictions on visitation, restricting inmate movement to only required and mission-essential transfers, increased health screening of staff and inmates, and increased sanitary measures,” prison officials said in the news release. “In addition, all Bureau facilities have been directed to designate available space for isolation and quarantine for inmates who have been exposed to or have symptoms of the virus. The Bureau has also instituted a mandatory 14-day quarantine for all new inmates entering the Bureau from outside a Bureau facility.”

Experts, however, told The Wall Street Journal it’s “almost impossible” to protect inmates from the virus when they are housed in such tight quarters. Scott Hechinger, a Brooklyn public defender, described horrific conditions at the Rikers Island complex in a Twitter thread Monday. “PLEASE READ: Conditions on Rikers are unimaginably bad. My colleague has spoken to a few people trapped inside. What they told her is horrifying,” he said in one tweet.

Source: Daily Kos NewsColony: Politics

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