The crisis is more of a crisis on the inside. Starting a thread of articles & other resources I come across or are shared w/ me on the intersection of jails, prisons, & courts and #Covid_19 #CoronaVirus. Feel free to share more in DMs or in replies. I'll do my best to amplify.
"There’s another thing law enforcement could be doing to slow the spread of coronavirus: Stop booking people into local jails, which could easily become incubators for the disease due to close quarters, poor sanitation, and underprepared health systems."motherjones.com/crime-justice/…
Georgia: “If there is a confirmed case of COVID-19 in Chatham County, no misdemeanor arrestees will be allowed into jail. If a person commits a misdemeanor offense, they will still be arrested & held accountable.” Why jail them pretrial ever?savannahnow.com/news/20200311/…
Washington: “My big fear is that I suddenly have an inmate population that becomes ill & I have a staff population that becomes ill & I have to figure out a way to keep the jail open & functioning with reduced staff.” So reduce the jail population now! thedailyworld.com/news/jails-lim…
This right here.
Danger: "Jails, prisons, & court systems may, in response to pandemic, reflexively heighten restrictions on people incarcerated, thereby worsening conditions, & also chilling the justice process by which their rights could be vindicated & freedom granted."slate.com/news-and-polit…
This right here. Call tomorrow to learn more.
SF Public Defender (@ManoRajuPD): “People incarcerated in jail are already exposed to an unsafe environment. Cramped & unsanitary conditions in jail put older or immunocompromised population at a much greater risk of contracting & spreading coronavirus.”sacbee.com/news/californi…
Public defense in a time of a pandemic. Just recorded this conversation w/ public defender colleagues from Santa Clara. On how now, more than ever, public defenders must speak out against cruel, brutal systems that hurt instead of heal the people we serve.soundcloud.com/user-139217541…
Hearing from various public defenders in court today that some NYC judges are refusing to grant long adjournments (more than 2 weeks) or excuse appearances until ordered to do so. Most court dates are unnecessary to begin with. Given everything we know, this is cruel insanity.
Governor Cuomo could save tens of thousands of people from unnecessary risk of contracting or spreading the virus today if he had the courage & reason to do so.
Washington, D.C.:
This. People should never have to pay to call loved ones from jails and prisons. Especially in a time of crisis like we now find ourselves in.
This.
“Concerns are growing that the deportation of migrants from the US and Mexico could accelerate the spread of coronavirus in Central America, after authorities in Honduras suspended repatriation flights and confirmed the first two cases in the country.”theguardian.com/world/2020/mar…
Black hole of information for those inside.
Black hole of information for those inside.
Butler County, Ohio: No more visitations, but "additional free calling privileges."
Middletown, Ohio. Also cancelling: "It is not so much about the inmates, but about first responders who could come in contact w/ someone who is sick." Said that out loud.daytondailynews.com/news/crime--la…
Middletown, Ohio. Also cancelling: "It is not so much about the inmates, but about first responders who could come in contact w/ someone who is sick." Said that out loud.daytondailynews.com/news/crime--la…
Screwed up my threading. Continued: #AbolishICE
“Concerns are growing that the deportation of migrants from the US and Mexico could accelerate the spread of coronavirus in Central America, after authorities in Honduras suspended repatriation flights and confirmed the first two cases in the country.”theguardian.com/world/2020/mar…
Black hole of information for those inside.
Butler County, Ohio: No more visitations, but "additional free calling privileges."
Middletown, Ohio. Also cancelling: "It is not so much about the inmates, but about first responders who could come in contact w/ someone who is sick." Said that out loud.daytondailynews.com/news/crime--la…
Middletown, Ohio. Also cancelling: "It is not so much about the inmates, but about first responders who could come in contact w/ someone who is sick." Said that out loud.daytondailynews.com/news/crime--la…
Human Rights Watch: "Authorities in the United States should take all necessary steps to protect people in prisons, jails, and immigration detention centers from infection by the coronavirus."hrw.org/news/2020/03/1…
Public defenders right now. Click to open full photo. 
This is an additional resource for community bail and bond funds to support and amplify efforts to release as many people as possible: static1.squarespace.com/static/5e1f966…
Outrage from frontlines of immigration court. "Finally, a court official arrived to tell us that our immigration judge had called out sick today. There would be no trials, we would receive a hearing notice with a new date."
NYPD Union just came out w/ a racist, fearmongering radio ad to scare the public into supporting repeal of months-old bail reform in NY & mass jailing of people charged w/ misdemeanors & nonviolent felonies. Bc what we really need right now is more jail 🤯.
"A coronavirus outbreak in our overcrowded, poorly maintained jails and prison facilities would be devastating, swift, and deadly."
All federal misdemeanor cases currently pending in Virginia were adjourned till the end of April. This is the least that all criminal courts—state & federal—should be doing.
“The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members.” What #COVID19 & the cruel responses to those now incarcerated or otherwise ensnared in the US legal system is now showing us is how exceptionally morally lost this country is.
SF public defender (@ManoRajuPD) and District Attorney (@chesaboudin) working together to save lives.
ILLINOIS: “We’ve all been told to socially distance ourselves to prevent the spread of the virus. Well, there’s no such thing as social distancing in prison,” said Alan Mills, executive director of the Uptown People’s Law Center. chicago.suntimes.com/2020/3/12/2117…
A system that shackles pregnant women to their hospital beds during childbirth is a system that can so easily overlook & ignore the humanity of vulnerable humans caged during a pandemic. nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-br…
Most offenses NYPD arrests people for are drug possession, not paying for subway fare, trespass, petit larceny, suspended licenses. Crimes of poverty. Disproportionately poor. Black & Brown communities. Calls them “criminals,” who “deserve to be arrested.”
All across the country, public defenders stepping up: “Orleans Public Defenders asking Criminal District Court to immediately release people held on non-violent offenses." Also asking for release of people held on technical parole/probation violations.thelensnola.org/2020/03/12/pub…
Insanity. In Washington, D.C. today, a judge was unwilling to consider an alternative to a 30 day jail sentence for a man, exhibiting signs of illness, who was before her on a minor probation violation. Had discretion to do different. Didn't.
