Thread by @FWDus

THREAD

Over 120,000 people have died in the US because of #COVID19 & people in the criminal justice system are especially at risk. Incarcerated people can’t live/eat/exercise in safety. They don’t have access to necessary hygiene & cleaning supplies, & lack basic medical care.

America’s system of mass incarceration makes us all less safe, especially during a pandemic. Jails and prisons are never safe places but the #coronavirus pandemic heightens the risk because social distancing is impossible. #COVID19

The number of incarcerated people known to be infected has doubled this past month. More than 68,000 incarcerated people have tested positive and over 500 have died from the virus. #COVID19 #coronavirus

See the faces and read the stories of people who have #COVID19 behind bars, have passed away, are still fighting to go home, and are navigating the criminal justice system in the community during this pandemic. #FreeAndSafe #coronavirus FWD.us/FreeAndSafe

Chalana feels “unspeakably grateful” to have left prison early without contracting #COVID19. Chalana was one of a very few people in federal prison who were granted an early release due to #coronavirus concerns. floridaphoenix.com/2020/06/12/inm…

Chalana has medical conditions, including asthma, high blood pressure, and sickle-cell disease. She left prison, met by her now adult daughter, who was four when she first went to prison, and her parents who raised her daughter. #FreeAndSafe

Chalana said, “Not as many are getting out [of federal prison as they should be]. But the Bureau of Prisons is a big machine that doesn’t adapt easily.” She added that more attention should be paid to early release for people incarcerated during the #COVID19 pandemic.

Keighan, 24 years old, was denied early release after pleading with government officials that he wanted to be with his two children if his grandparents got sick with #COVID19. Keighan said he feels “completely without options.” bangordailynews.com/2020/06/08/mai…

Keighan said he’s worried that his children, age six and four, will be left without a caretaker if either of his grandparents with underlying conditions tests positive for #COVID19.

“My children don’t have anyone else."

Keighan is set to be released in June and requested early release in March amid the #coronavirus crisis. He also said prison staff are not following social distancing rules, "it just astonishes me that they’re outright denying people the right to stay safe." #FreeAndSafe

Beth was told that her pregnant daughter would be released early, but later learned she wasn’t coming home early. Beth’s daughter, Michele, is serving a five-month sentence and is currently eight months pregnant. northcarolinahealthnews.org/2020/06/17/pre…

In late April, Beth said she received a phone call from a Carteret County probation officer stating that her daughter was to be released. That same night, Michele called Beth to tell she wasn’t going to be released because of a mistake by the probation officer.

The last time Debra spoke to her brother, John, a nurse held the phone for him as he was lying in a hospital bed on a ventilator. John was diagnosed with #COVID19 and had been on life support after getting sick at a correctional facility in Michigan.
freep.com/story/news/loc…

Debra said she encouraged her brother to keep fighting. "I was still hopeful," she said. "I had spoken with one of his doctors, and they were looking for the plasma antibodies for him." Two days later, John died from #coronavirus.

He had been incarcerated for nearly 40 years.

This tool aggregates stories of individuals impacted by the criminal justice system during #coronavirus. People should be #FreeAndSafe.

Read their stories here: FWD.us/FreeAndSafe