Items

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  2022-06-06

  Arkansas Prisoners and COVID Relief Payments

  This article details a court ruling that requires the Arkansas Department of Corrections to pay out over $2.5 million dollars in withheld COVID relief money from the federal government. When COVID stimulus relief checks were rolled out, any money going to those incarcerated in Arkansas was immediately confiscated by the Arkansas Department of Corrections and placed within the state prison budget. Several inmates then sued the Department of Corrections demanding the payment of their stimulus. While the Department of Corrections alleged that they were entitled to the money due to the inmates being under their jurisdiction, this ruling requires the immediate repayment of all stimulus money. This story demonstrates not only a conflict within the Arkansas prison system, but also the tremendous legal questions the pandemic opened as well as the questionable conduct spurred by government officials in response.
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  2022-03-26

  Locked In and Locked Down: Surviving COVID-19 in FCI Edgefield BOP

  The COVID-19 crisis has impacted mass incarcerated facilities at an exceeding rate, exacerbating existing staffing shortage and leaving those housed in large numbers increasingly vulnerable to COVID-19. The Federal Correctional Institution in Edgefield, South Carolina is no exception to this hardship. FCI Edgefield has be forced to expand its use of a practice called "augmentation" or allowing those in non-correctional roles at the prison to work in correctional officer roles. This is because staff members are getting sick an exceedingly high rate, causing some staff to have quarantine for several days while others have chosen to retire early out of the fear of high exposure and incentives losing way due to the crisis. Since the pandemic has taken off, only a small number of inmates have died from COVID-19, about 50 in total. Yet, due to less experienced staff on site due to shortages, one inmate died due to undermined symptoms on January 27, 2021. Overall, stories like these are important because they show how state officials, lawmakers, and policymakers have made little strides in reducing and slowing down the spread of the coronavirus in state and national prison systems. People like my mother, who works at FCI Edgefield, have preexisting medical conditions that put them at a heightened risk for complications if they were to catch COVID-19. Thus, we should make aware that these state officials have waited too long to make strides towards reducing the prison population, routinely rotating staff, and increasing social distance measures in the jail populations. As the pandemic wears on, much is still needed to be done in prioritizing staff and prison populations for vaccination matters. While this idea has generated some wide societal debate, I find it hard to argue that people who work and live in correctional facilities are at a major disadvantage in this crisis. Therefore, it is only fair to consider these high-risk groups first when prioritizing phases and measures of the vaccines and health and well-being.
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  2021-10-04

  Neglect of Prisoners

  One of the examples of bigger issues coming to light during the pandemic. Not only were people in prisons fighting covid, but they're also continually dealing with a lack of resources such as basic air conditioning/ heat.
• 
  2021-10-07

  NBA and Quarantine

  this is a social media post that describes how NBA players that are unvaccinated cannot travel outside of their hotel when playing in Toronto Canada unless it is related to team activities. If they break quarantine they face criminal charges.
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  2021-06-24

  Philippines president threatens to arrest refusers of COVID-19 vaccine

  MANILA, Philippines - Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday threatened to imprison citizens who refuse to get a COVID-19 vaccine as the nation continues to be a hotspot for the novel coronavirus in Asia. The country has recorded more than 1.3 million COVID-19 cases and over 23,000 deaths.
• 
  2021-07-10

  Manzanar

  As a historian, US History teacher, and mother of two Asian-American children, I make a point to expose my children to all aspects of America’s history: good, bad, and ugly. Thanks to COVID, we had the opportunity to show the kids one of the country’s ugliest moments - Japanese internment. The desolate desert in the middle of our home state is an area I had never driven through before COVID, despite having lived in CA my entire life and being (supposedly) 8th or 9th generation Californian on my dad’s side. However, there is no way I’m putting my family on an airplane during a pandemic, which limits vacation options. So into the car for an eight hour drive to Tahoe. A drive that goes right past Manzanar, the Japanese American World War II concentration camp. Unlike last year, when we made the same drive for the first time in my life, the exhibits, buildings, and visitor center were open with masks and social distancing. As we stood in the barrack in the 106 degree temperature, I told my kids to never forget how uncomfortable they felt and to consider the fact that they were feeling awful from the heat as tourists. I told them to imagine living in this heat as a prisoner though you committed no crime except having ancestors from Japan. They may be young, but they are old enough to understand human rights. Visiting Manzanar was overwhelming. I am not a very emotional person, but I was taken aback by the fact that this history is so recent. My best friend’s dad was born in Tule Lake, where Japanese-Americans who refused to take the forced loyalty oath were sent. That is only one generation before mine. Seeing and experiencing second hand through family and friends the hatred directed toward Asian-Americans during this pandemic made the experience in Manzanar extra raw. Though I refuse to thank COVID for anything because I think that’s a bit tone deaf for all who have lost and suffered during this pandemic, I am grateful that the circumstances that led us to drive to Tahoe instead of fly led us also to a place of reflection on prejudice and race, especially in the climate of today.
• 
  2021-04-20

  George Floyd's family reacts to guilty verdict

  Hugs, tears and screams -- watch the moment George Floyd's family got justice for their loved one. Former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty on all counts and could be sent to prison for decades.
• 
  2020-10-23

  Voluntary Isolation Motel EMT

  Several counties across Oregon have coordinated with local motels to establish voluntary isolation shelters in an attempt to curb the spread of COVID-19. Each location is staffed with city personnel to manage admittance and discharge, while EMTs on staff conduct routine medical monitoring to patients. My boyfriend works in one of these shelters, and sent me this picture of him in his full PPE getup before making morning rounds. The shelter's capacity varies a lot week by week, and anywhere from 1-20 COVID positive patients may be staying there at any given point. This particular motel intakes prisoners who need to do a 2 week quarantine before being released, but also serves non-incarcerated people who have tested positive.
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  2020-10-13

  A Super-Spreader Jail Keeps Sparking COVID Outbreaks Across the U.S.

  When Covid-19 put much of the U.S. on lockdown one of the things that kept everyone entertained and sane was binge watching streaming services like Netflix and Amazon. One of the breakout hits was a show called Tiger King. This news story explains how the "Tiger King's" stay at a local jail while waiting to transfer into the federal prison system, like many others across the country, has resulted in the spread of COVID-19 through out correctional facilities. While is seems obvious how much time, man power, and money it would take to transfer incarcerated people between facilities safely it is outrageous that US Marshalls were giving people fever reducers like Tylenol so that they would pass a temperature check and their transfer would continue.
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  2020-10-05

  Why Prisoners Aren’t Reporting Feeling Sick

  Prisons and jails were not planned or constructed with thoughts of weathering a pandemic, not was the system of incarceration. For these reasons, and our cultures current view of incarcerated people as less than human, many are suffering in silence. This article explains why incarcerated people are choosing not to tell anyone if they experience symptoms that might be from COVID-19.
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  2020-10-01

  Prisons Are Mostly Closed to Journalist During Covid

  As this Tweet from journalist, Sara Tardiff, explains prisons are closed as a precaution to slowing the spread of Covid-19. This means one of our only windows into what is actually happening behind bars is coming from incarcerated persons using contraband cell phones.
• 
  2020-09-11

  Prisons and Jails Are Rolling Back Free Phone Calls

  When Covid-19 hit the US many things shutdown including the nation's prisons. Of course they kept taking in people for incarceration but they no longer allowed visitors. This made connection to the outside world through phone calls even more important. What many people don't know is that each phone call an incarcerated person makes costs money, a lot of money. In the beginning of the pandemic many jails and prisons offered free phone calls, in the case they were even allowing phone calls (that's another story) but as the pandemic has continued for nearly eight months phone calls are no longer free or reduced cost. This is an undue burden on a population that is facing high unemployment.
• 
  2020-09-29

  Incarcerated people are humans, with human rights

  This series of Tweets illustrates the number of Covid cases inside of prisons that go largely unnoticed by the general public. It also points to a larger problem of seeing "inmates", those who should be referred to in people first language as incarcerated persons, as fully human.
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  2020-07-20

  Private prison contracts complicates COVID-19 precautions

  The contracts for Arizona's private prisons require nearly all of the beds to be filled. This story articulates the difficult balance between keeping inmates safe during a pandemic and satisfying the contracts.
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  2020-08-02

  'Catastrophe': How Nation's Worst Outbreak Exploded at San Quentin

  In less than two months, 19 San Quentin inmates have died, including at least eight on Death Row, more than half the number of condemned killers executed here in four decades. The official number of prisoners infected has reached 2,181 — about two-thirds of the prison population — but many refused to be tested.⁠ ⁠ And alongside the prisoners plagued by a pandemic in a poorly ventilated germ-ridden lockup are the 258 prison guards and other staff who got sick too — and ultimately brought it home.⁠
• 
  2020-08-21

  Nearly half the population at Michigan prison tests positive for COVID-19

  This Tweet and it's responses show how the public feels about the Covid-19 outbreak within one of Michigan's prisons. The article referenced also explains how this particular facility had spent months with no cases and then had a sudden outbreak, illustrating how dependent prisons and the communities they are a part of are when it comes to the spread of Covid=19.
• 
  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.
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  2020-08-21

  Yuma Inmates Allege Prison Officials Ordered Them To Refuse COVID-19 Testing To Keep Numbers Down

  This Tweet and linked article explain a haunting story. Inmates at the Yuma prison in Arizona were threatened with a "beat down" unless they refused to take a Covid-19 test in an effort by the administration to keep the case count down. The replies to this Tweet show the public's response to this allegation.
• 
  2020-08-24

  You Have to Pay for the Body

  In California if your loved one dies from Covid-19 you have to pay to have their remains sent to you as this Tweet explains.
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  2020-08-21

  Guard Tested Positive: Conditions Inside One of America's Incarceration Facilities

  This Tweet, from an incarcerated person, shows and expresses the conditions and treatment inside of a correctional facility with a Covid positive employee. The replies show what the public thinks of the situation.
• 
  2020-08-20

  Almost All Detainees Have Covid at Farmville Detention Facility

  This Tweet brings to light that almost all detainees at the Farmville Detention Facility, a for profit prison in Virginia, have Covid-19. The attached article discusses long running complaints of mistreatment at this facility, some so egregious that even ICE itself was appalled. It also points to the spread of Covid through facility transfers all over the US. The replies to the original Tweet give a good representation of the American public's response to the situation.
• 
  2020-08-21

  'Severe inhumanity': California prisons overwhelmed by Covid outbreaks and approaching fires

  This Tweet and article concern the conditions inmates in California's prisons are experiencing. First they had to deal with Covid-19 and figure out how to slow the spread of the disease within overcrowded facilities where social distancing is impossible and mask wearing presents its own set of issues. Second incarcerated people are living in a near constant state of lockdown, visitation and even communication with family and friends is gone. Third they are facing the threat of wildfires within a few miles of several prisons causing the people inside the buildings to breath air filled with smoke. To add insult to injury the state of California uses prison labor to fight these same fires. This article illustrates how we as a society treat those most at risk among us. Even those in a correctional facility for the terminally ill in hospice care are not being evacuated.
• 
  2020-08

  Tweets from Inside a Prison 08/16-08/22/2020 by Railroaded Underground

  These Tweets were posted by a man inside a prison using a contraband cell phone. This week he talks about their nutrition, lack of air conditioning, lack of showers, the wildfires near Vacaville Prison in California and the lack of plan for evacuation, a friend that recently died of Covid, and how good it felt to finely be allowed to go outside for a bit.
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  2020-08

  Tweets from Inside a Prison 08/09-08/15/2020 by Railroaded Underground

  These images show the Tweets of an incarcerated person using a contraband cell phone. This week he Tweets about politics, specifically Kamala Harris being chosen for VP and her role in incarcerating so many people while she was a prosecutor, another friend returning from solitary confinement, an unsanitary kitchen prison laborers were forced to prepare food in, the number of incarcerated crime victims, prison population reduction, getting more soap, and having to share a shower head with three or four other people because the prison removed several shower heads.
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  2020-08

  Tweets from Inside a Prison 08/02-08/08/2020 by Railroaded Underground

  The images show Tweets from a person incarcerated in a US prison using a contraband cell phone. These week he mentions politics, retweets several people including one person discussing who is worthy of release, people being sent to solitary confinement to quarantine, and the people at his facility being told they must cooperate with rehousing assignments or be punished.
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  2020-07-09

  Covid Crisis at San Quentin

  This Tweet highlights the activism around releasing incarcerated people to prevent the spread of covid and any sentence from turning into a death sentence.
• 
  2020-08-07

  6 million masks in. 50,000 people out.

  This Tweet from REFORM Alliance explains they have gotten six million masks into correctional facilities across the nation by using the 10 million dollar donation from Twitter's CEO, Jack Dorsey. And 50,000 people have been released. The accompanying video explains that if the nations 2.4 million incarcerated people become ill and go to outside hospitals there will be no hospital space for anyone else. If that isn't enough to make you care they pose the question, do any incarcerated people deserve a defacto death sentence?
• 
  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.
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  2020-08-05

  Reporting on the Death of an Incarcerated Person

  This person cautions reporters about stories covering the death of an incarcerated person due to Covid. She expresses he worry that it puts emphasis on the one bad thing they did in their life and doesn't cover any of the things they've done since.
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  2020-08-04

  Worst coronavirus outbreak in U.S.: A timeline of how San Quentin earned that infamous distinction

  This article includes a video interactive timeline that shows how they believe covid was introduced to San Quentin Prison in California as well as coverage of the pandemic in several other California state prisons.
• 
  07/24/2020

  Philip Melendez Oral History, 2020/07/24

  Philip Melendez was born and raised in Sacramento, California. His interactions with the police began in high school. He later committed a crime and served almost twenty years in prison. He was released from prison a few years ago and now works for Restore Justice, a California based non-profit, focused on criminal justice reform. Now married, with three grown children, he discusses his thoughts on the criminal justice system, reform, and the impact of COVID-19 on the incarcerated population within the United States, specifically California. (Note there is about two minutes of empty recording at the beginning of the Mp4 file.)
• 
  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.
• 
  2020-07-11

  Questions on California Coronavirus Standards

  When the coronavirus first hit California, there was immediate public discussion about what should be done about one of the potentially most at-risk populations: prisoners. Although there was an initial outpouring of sympathy around less-minor releases, the cries of law and order quickly went out, accompanied by the calls that civilization was about to end. How we keep these, and other at risk populations, safe is still a question that is up in the air. This item was added TAGS v6.1.9.1. I originally searched under the hashtag #california. Within that search, I have chosen to add the following tweet because it branches off on one of the arguments against wearing masks: their efficacy.
• 
  2020-06

  Tweets from Inside a Prison 6/7-6/13/2020 by Railroaded Underground

  These images show the Tweets of a prison inmate using a contraband cell phone to let the public know what it is like inside the nations prisons during the coronavirus pandemic. This week he talks about the "racist violent system", George Floyd, wishes the momentum for change in policing and Black Lives Matter isn't lost, encouraging voting, #ClemancyNow, San Quentin in San Francisco, and being put in the hole after a prison guard handcuffed and kicked him in the face repeatedly.
• 
  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 4/19-4/25/2020 by Railroaded Underground

  These images follow the Tweets of an incarcerated person from April 19th through April 25th, 2020. In them they discuss their feelings of anger and depression, worries about mental health from being in lockdown 23 hours per day, overcrowding, begins defenseless, politics, elections, self medicating, like others on prison wine called "pruno", how they are not supposed to wear masks at all times but the guards are not, and that though it was declared by prison authorities would not transfer inmates due to concerns over spreading covid that has not been the reality.
• 
  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.
• 
  2020-04-30

  Death Row

  This political cartoon is a commentary on the rates of corona virus in the prisons. Every aspect of the prison system now seems like death row.
• 
  2020-06-27

  Did Inmates Transfered from San Quentin Spread Covid-19?

  These images show a Twitter social media post and the replies it received surrounding the transfer of inmates from San Quentin to other facilities introduced the virus to the other facilities. The author of the Tweet also references an article from the Sacramento Bee entitled "Major COVID-19 outbreak at rural California prison. Officials blame state for inmate transfer" Read more here: https://www.sacbee.com/news/coronavirus/article243822702.html#storylink=cpy
• 
  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.
• 
  2020-05-11

  Coping With COVID-19 Crisis: Jule Hall & Lynn Novick On The Devastating Impact On Prison Education Depicted In Docuseries ‘College Behind Bars’

  Once the covid pandemic settled in across the nation it was obvious that schools, preschool through university, had to be shut down. Many schools turned to online instruction and learning but this presented a problem for a large number of students who don't have the hardware or access to an internet connection. One population you wouldn't expect to also struggle with this issue are prisons. Many prisons across the country offer college to inmates. Conducted by professors who visit the prison to provide instruction. As a precaution to lessen the introduction of the virus into the prison many facilities stopped visitors including the college professors. This article discusses how this has impacted the inmates. ASU, HST580
• 
  2020-04-18

  Interviews inside a covid positive prison

  This article interviews inmates, family of inmates, employees, and officials from the Federal Correctional Complex in Oakdale, Louisiana. The interviews were conducted orally, written, over text, and social media. Both the employees and inmates tell a story of an ill prepared system, though the prison claims to have begun preparing in January.
• 
  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.
• 
  2020-05-26

  Inmates claim their symptoms are ignored

  In prison social distancing is impossible. Once covid enters a prison many become infected quickly. Inmates are saying their efforts to obtain medical care are being ignored and families are not being notified when their inmates become ill. Instead they are only being notified once their inmate has died from the virus.
• 
  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?
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  2020-04-11

  Gobierno evalúa indulto a internos más vulnerables frente a epidemia del COVID-19

  El Ejecutivo evalúa el tema del indulto para los internos más vulnerables que se encuentran en los 68 centros penitenciarios que existen en el país para hacer frente a una eventual propagación del COVID-19, informó el presidente del Consejo de Ministros, Vicente Zeballos.
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  2020-04-11

  Call for economic subsidy for Peru's prison & jail employees

  #COVID_19 Es necesario evaluar un subsidio económico especial para el personal del @INPEgob. Ellas y ellos vienen laborando sin descanso en los penales en medio de crisis sanitaria provocada por #coronavirus. Su esfuerzo merece también reconocimiento nacional. #EstadoDeEmergencia