New York prisons remain COVID-19 death traps
BY MARK HALLUM
With the spread of COVID-19 heating
up across the fi ve boroughs, criminal
justice reformists are calling on
the city and the state to put in the extra
effort to protect people in jails and
prisons.
Legal Aid Society’s most recent
analysis of COVID-19 rates in 14 state
prisons found that in just eight days,
142 new cases brought the total to
2,040, which they call on Governor Andrew
Cuomo to remedy the situation
claiming it was preventable through
efforts to reduce crowding.
Those eligible for release, under the
Legal Aid recommendations, are those
within 90 days of their release date and
who are serving sentences for non-violent,
non-sex related offenses.
“This shameful milestone was totally
avoidable had Governor Cuomo
and Department of Correction and
Community Supervision heeded the
calls from advocates, medical professionals
and other experts for immediate
decarceration of medically vulnerable
individuals,” said Stefen Short,
Supervising Attorney with the Prisoners’
Rights Project at The Legal Aid
Society. “Absent signifi cant intervention
by Governor Cuomo or DOCCS, it
is apparent that the situation will only
worsen and that the consequences will
be even more tragic. The State must
act immediately to release those who
are medically vulnerable.”
According to DOCCS, however,
the Legal Aid’s claims in the analysis
required additional context and the
agency is following guidelines issued
by the state Department of Health currently.
“To put Legal Aids’ “conclusion” in
context, as of December 11, 2020, there
are only 249 current positive cases in
DOCCS facilities, while 1,773 individuals,
or approximately 88-percent of the
number they cite, have already recovered
since the beginning of this pandemic,”
DOCCS spokesperson Thomas
Mailey said. “As a result of the signifi -
cant increase in COVID-19 infections
at the Attica, Auburn and Cayuga Correctional
Facilities, visitation at the
three facilities has been temporarily
suspended until further notice. Programs
A correctional facility on Rikers Island. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)
are currently suspended, however
select programs will be modifi ed
in order to continue the work. The Department
has also deployed rapid testing
for staff.”
Meanwhile, Congresswoman Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez called on the
city Department of Corrections deputy
chief of staff Dana Wax to address a
number of questions as to what measures
are in place nine months after
the pandemic began.
With reports to her offi ce that jails
were reportedly at 96% capacity and
some mask and sanitary precautions
were not being followed, Ocasio-Cortez
asked DOC to account for the safety
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of detainees.
“However, in the months that
passed, we learned of several additional
protective measures that must
be in place to prevent an outbreak.
These measures include wearing face
coverings, washing hands with soap
and water for 20 seconds, and avoiding
close contact. Further, the EPA ‘recommends
increasing ventilation with
outdoor air and air fi ltration’ in order
to reduce the ‘potential for airborne
transmission of COVID-19.’ I am now
writing to ascertain whether the Department
of Corrections is adhering to
this guidance,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
Leaking roofs, poor ventilation
and a scarcity of healthcare resources
were also among the concerns stated
in the letter to which the congresswoman
had a number of questions for
DOC. Her question list included the
following:
Are detained individuals provided
enough soap to thoroughly wash their
hands multiple times a day?
Are facilities, in fact, at 96% capacity?
Do detained individuals have access
to consistent and high quality
healthcare?
Are facilities adequately ventilated
so as to decrease the likelihood of virus
transmission per EPA guidelines?
How often are detained individuals
tested?
What quarantine arrangements are
available to those who test positive?
Mayor Bill de Blasio addressed
this letter during a Monday morning
press conference in which he said his
administration had not only thinned
the crowd in DOC holding, but that the
infection rate was lower in jails than
among the general public.
“As we were dealing with the fi rst
wave, the great unknown, everyone
was trying to make sense of this situation,
this city made a bold decision.
Working with DAs, working with the
state, we ultimately had about 1,600 inmates
come out of our jail system as a
protective measure, given what was
happening then in a different situation,”
de Blasio said. “Now, thank god,
correctional health is much better positioned
to address the virus because
everyone’s learned so much more, we
have a lot of space that we’re using
because the population, particularly
Rikers, went so low that we have a lot
of available space to spread people out.
We’re screening anyone who comes in,
whether employee or inmate to make
sure that we know their situation. It’s
a much, much better situation.”
These statements come as the New
York was given its fi rst batch of the
COVID-19 vaccine produced by Pfi zer
which Governor Andrew Cuomo showcased
Monday morning as the fi rst
healthcare worker was injected.
This story fi rst appeared on our sister
website amny.com
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