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early release
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2020-10-04
Half of Folsom Prison Inmates Have Covid
Nursing homes and prisons provide the perfect breading ground for coronavirus. For this reason the nation's correctional facilities have been hard hit by the virus. This Tweet, by James King, a formerly incarcerated man, draws attention to the continued spread of the virus within Folsom Prison in California. The news story King links to in his Tweet contains a video of Governor Gavin Newsom explaining the measures already taken to mediate the spread of the virus and upcoming plans. In the video Newsom mentions several things that alarmed me. 1. Numerous individuals with active Covid infections were released from California correctional facilities. Was this a wise decision? Or was it the smart decision that shows compassion for the individual. Prison is no place to suffer through a horrible illness. 2. When talking about releasing people from correctional facilities early he stresses these were individuals who are "non, non, non, non sex offenders". This sounds like they are only considering releasing those convicted of non-violent crimes, but isn't there a chance someone who has spent 20+ years in prison been reformed? Isn't that the point of incarceration, to reform the person? 3. There are individuals that meet the criteria laid out for early release but they have no where to go or no plan. In speaking with criminal justice reform advocates in California personally I was told there are numerous non-profit organizations ready to assist anyone that is released early. -
2020-08-22
Don't Release Inmates, We Need Them to Fight Wildfires
In an effort to slow the spread of Covid-19 incarceration facilities across the nation have released a small number of people earlier than they would have been otherwise. This has created a unique situation in California, a state that relies on prison labor to combat wildfires every year. As the writer of this Tweet calls out, much of the general public and the nation's politicians believe "if you do the crime, you do the time" and feel this extends to using inmates for fighting fires. -
2020-08-05
I'm incarcerated at San Quentin prison for 55 years to life. I didn't think things could get worse until COVID-19.
This article, written by a currently incarcerated man at San Quentin Prison in California, explains what it is like to be incarcerated during the Covid Pandemic and their lack of information. He asks if it is justice to leave people in prison during the pandemic, explains the stress and helplessness so many feel, talks about the racism that landed many of them in prison, and the very low recidivism rate of lifers. -
2020-07-10
Delay in obtaining prison records postpones Anderson release hearing
This article reports on the case of a former Sonora doctor, Danny Anderson, who is an inmate at the California Institution for Men in Chino. Anderson's attorneys sought an early release for Anderson due to his autoimmune disease. Anderson previously had the virus and was cleared, but doctors do not know if there will be significant immune response to the virus to prevent a second infection. There have been delays to the release of the inmate. At the time of the article, there were 63 cases of COVID-19 within that prison. Many prisoners are being released around the state to relieve overcrowding, but it seems to be going at a slower pace than could really help alleviate the problem. -
2020-04-06
04/06/2020 The Equinox Report
An inmate at San Quentin prison in San Francisco, California, has been sending letters out to someone who is posting them on this blog. Today he explains a news story he saw on Democracy Now. The story says 16 states have begun releasing prisoners but New York Governor, Andrew Cuomo, has resisted even with hundreds of inmates and facility employees testing positive. -
2020-05
Tweets from Inside a Prison 5/3-5/9/2020 by Railroaded Underground
These images are of the Twitter feed of an incarcerated person using a contraband cellphone to tell the world what is happening inside the prison during the covid pandemic. This week they discuss guards still not wearing masks but inmates are required to, retweeted about #dreamers and #carenotcages, the public beginning to recognize the humanity inside of prisons, empowerment, #clemancynow, the state of California disallowing inmate grievances to be filed, stagnation of the movement to release inmates early to slow the spread, and the fight for their rights. -
2020-04
Tweets from Inside a Prison 4/12-4/18/2020 by Railroaded Underground
These tweets are from an incarcerated person using a contraband cell phone to let the world know about the conditions inside the prison. This week he is talking about choosing between a shower and exposure because their showers are communal with over fifty people. He also mentions the prison employee that brought him his meals and lead him around has tested positive and that the first inmate is positive and has been sent to solitary confinement for quarantine. He mentions a lack of soap, receiving fruit snacks with his lunch because they contain vitamin C, injustice, #clemancynow, and inmates at other facilities being retaliated against for speaking out. -
2020-06-15
Gov. Brown asks for release of some prison inmates to slow virus spread
One of the hardest hit populations with regards to covid-19 are corrections facilities. In an effort to slow the spread in the nations overcrowded facilities government officials have released some inmates early. The public has had mixed reactions to this policy. While the government officials are not releasing inmates that pose a danger to the public people are still worried. This article covers the story in Oregon and the comments add to the conversation. -
2020-06-01
4,000+ Protestors Arrested During Pandemic
Protests have erupted across the U.S. in response to another death of a black man in police custody. The protests have continued for seven straight days and over 4,000 people have been arrested. This creates a larger problem during the time of covid 19. With officials concerned about the spread of the virus within incarcerated populations and releasing inmates early, are they concerned about the thousands they are arresting? Are they keeping those arrested in jail or releasing them? Is the pandemic effecting their choice? -
2020-03-30
‘Jails Are Petri Dishes’
As the US faced the real threat of the coronavirus it became clear that "jails are petri dishes." Due to overcrowding and the large number of people that go in and out of the buildings daily it is impossible to stop the virus from coming in and spreading rapidly. Government and prison officials began discussing early release or releasing those still awaiting trial, particularly for nonviolent offenses. As with the rest of the nation the fear is that the virus will spread so quickly that the nations medical system will be overwhelmed. The same is true within the prison but the fear is that the inmates and employees of the prisons will add to the medical crises outside the prison. -
2020-05-14
Prison population remains stable during pandemic
In response to the inability to social distance within prisons government and prison officials have considered releasing some inmates early to slow the spread of the virus but this article states that has not happened. It points to the officials fear of inmates released early committing a crime. -
2020-05-29
Are inmates attempting to infect themselves to gain early release?
One response to the pandemic in the US has been to consider releasing some prison inmates early to quell the spread of the virus within the prison population. This is a valid strategy because social distancing in a prison is impossible. In this video it appears that inmates are all sharing a cup in an attempt to infect themselves. Is that what is actually happening? Are they doing this in hopes that they will be released?