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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.