QUEENS ELECTEDS TOUR PRISONS
RAVAGED BY COVID-19 PANDEMIC
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | FEB. 26-MARCH 4, 2021 21
and could touch both
sides of the walls. These
stories are powerful. We
must keep moving the
agenda forward.”
Ramos was concerned
that detainees only get
tested if they are new
to the facility or if they
are sick. The staff do
not get tested regularly
for COVID-19 and only a
portion of the staff members,
including medical
staff, have received the
vaccine so far.
“I’m very concerned
that they are not offering
regular testing of
their employees or their
inmates,” Ramos said.
“We shouldn’t wait until
a tragedy transpires.
Enough tragedies have
already taken place.
We’ve already lost New
Yorkers under our custody.
We are responsible
for their lives and the
best way we can redeem
ourselves as a state is by
passing the package of
bills known as the Justice
Roadmap so we can
make sure this never
happens again.”
BY BILL PARRY
Three Queens lawmakers
joined legislators
from across the state on
fact finding missions to
upstate prisons, jails and
ICE detention centers
ravaged by COVID-19
and called for the swift
passage of the Justice
Roadmap, a package of
bills that would decarcerate
New York and curtail
“death and torture”
behind bars.
They also called for
immediate access to
COVID-19 vaccines for
incarcerated New Yorkers.
“Not only did this
public health crisis spotlight
the inhumane practices
at facilities, it has
sped up the urgency to
take meaningful steps to
decarcerate our state,”
state Senator Jessica Ramos
said. “As we look to
build a better New York
for all, we must put forward
legislation to address
the harms of our
criminal legal and immigration
systems that
have torn too many of
our families apart and
finally bring healing to
Black and Brown communities
who have been
disproportionately impacted.”
The Justice Roadmap,
a legislative platform
endorsed by more than
200 organizations, includes
measures to end
prolonged solitary confinement,
enact parole
reform, end law enforcement
collaboration with
ICE, and legalize marijuana.
Since the start of
the pandemic, more than
5,500 New Yorkers incarcerated
in state prisons
have tested positive for
COVID-19, a positivity
rate of nearly 16 percent,
and at least 32 have died.
“I witnessed alarming
public health and human
rights concerns, including
poor heating issues,
reduced access to educational
and recreational
opportunities, and a lack
of mental health support
for incarcerated people,”
Assemblyman Khaleel
Anderson said. “We must
ensure that vaccines are
distributed equitably to
incarcerated members
of our community, enact
parole reform, end solitary
confinement and
ultimately we must decarcerate
New York. The
Justice Roadmap will
move us towards this.”
Assemblywoman Jessica
Gonzalez-Rojas, a
co-sponsor of several of
the bills included in the
Justice Roadmap, was
impacted after meeting
with several incarcerated
individuals.
“We met so many people
who had families, who
had been contributing
members of society and
they are locked away,”
she said. “We went into
the solitary confinement
unit. We asked them to
put us in a cell and close
the door. I’m five-feet tall
State Senator Jessica Ramos (r.) has concerns about COVID-
19 testing of prison inmates and employees following a
recent tour. Courtesy of Progressive Cities
SAMPLE
/QNS.COM
