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Prison
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2020-07-13
A CLOSER LOOK: COVID-19 prison data as of 7/13
There was recently a spike in the number of covid cases in Arkansas State Prison facilities. Officials suggest this may be due to early testing. They point to the fact that if a person has been exposed recently and is tested right away they may not have enough of a viral load to test positive for the virus even though they are carrying it. This causes false negatives and results in those people not being isolated. The officials also point to supply chain issues preventing them from testing as much as they would like. -
2020-08-05
All state prison inmates will be tested for COVID-19; National Guard will assist
On August 5th, Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson announced a plan to test all of the people incarcerated at the 19 state prisons. As of the press conference 10 of the facilities had already been tested and the remaining 9 would be completed by the end of August. To help with this 10 National Guard personnel will be assisting. Other figures provided show just how quickly the virus spread through an enclosed population that is unable to social distance. At three facilities the total number of cases was 666 and five days later the total case count was well over three thousand. -
2020-08-11
2 ORU prison inmates die from COVID-19; 34 total
Two more people incarcerated at Arkansas state prisons have died from the Coronavirus, bringing the total deaths from the virus to thirty four. They also have 800 active cases. -
2020-08-10
Florida inmate, prison worker COVID-19 cases soar
This article highlights the amazing speed at which Covid-19 spreads through the nation's correctional facilities. Over twelve thousand incarcerated people have the virus, of which sixty five have died. As an example of how quickly the virus spreads the article sites the Taylor Correctional Institute going from 25 cases on August 1st to 564 on August 10th. To date over seventy-three thousand tests have been conducted in the states correctional facilities. -
2020-08-10
Defacto Death Sentence
This Tweet shows that 22% of those that have died of Covid in Florida correctional facilities were eligible for parole. Early release for people convicted of nonviolent crimes has been a topic of discussion since the virus first struck the US back in March. The theory is releasing some people early will help make it possible for those still incarcerated to be able to social distance. Others point to the fact that incarceration and covid should not lead to a defacto death sentence. -
2020-08-11
We Have to Reduce the Number of People In Prisons to Slow the Spread of Covid
James King, formerly incarcerated and now a criminal justice activist, speaks out about the need to reduce the prison population to slow the spread of covid. He also explains the conditions at San Quentin Prison in California and in the replies to his Tweet explains and quotes the recidivism rates for prisoners. -
2020-08-11
14 of the Largest Outbreaks are in Prisons and Jails
Covid-19 is particularly dangerous in populations that are enclosed and unable to social distance such as nursing homes and correctional facilities. This Tweet explains that 14 of the largest outbreaks across the US are in the prisons and jails. The writer of the Tweet, James King, asks why the California Governor, Gavin Newsom, is closing bars and beaches while not doing more in the correctional facilities since 6 of the 14 largest outbreaks are in California. -
2020-08-11
San Quentin Still at 100% Capacity
Covid-19 has been eye opening and really illustrated many of the problems we as a society have done a good job ignoring. One of the things society has long ignored is overcrowding in prisons and jails in the US. We've also learned that any enclosed population without the ability to social distance is a risk for having a major Covid-19 outbreak. Together, overcrowding and the inability to social distance, has made for a bleak outlook in the nation's correctional facilities. This Tweet shows that even this far in to the pandemic and the outbreak at San Quentin the prison is still over capacity. -
2020-08-10
Correctional Sergeant Dies from Covid Complications
This Tweet expresses the lack of concern for the incarcerated people dying from Covid 19. California Governor Gavin Newsom expresses his sympathy for the family and friends of one of the correctional facility staff who recently passed from complications due to Covid-19 but he does not mention the many people incarcerated in these facilities who have also died from Covid-19. -
2020-08-06
Victims’ families outraged after California releases thousands of inmates early to slow spread of COVID-19
As California releases more and more incarcerated people to slow the spread of Covid-19 in the prison population many victims advocates are worried and hurt. This news story covers one woman's reaction to the early release of the woman that murdered her brother when he was 23 years old. -
2020-08-06
Parts of San Quentin Do Not Have Electricity
This Tweet and series of replies shows people talking about there not being electricity in at least parts of San Quentin Prison in California. -
2020-08-07
Violent Offenders Should Be Considered for Early Release
In this video Phil Melendez discussed the impact of Covid-19 on incarcerated persons and his belief that violent offenders should also be considered for early release to slow the spread of Covid and protect the inmate from receiving a defacto death sentence. -
2020-08-08
Shits about to pop off - Aug 14!
This Tweet from a restorative justice advocate indicates incarcerated persons may be planning a hunger strike, or protest of some type on August 14, 2020. -
2020-08-07
Inmates Punished for Having Gloves
This Tweet explains that inmates who save gloves, given to them by the prison, have received disciplinary action for having the gloves. -
2020-08-07
One Journalist Is Chronicling San Quentin’s Huge COVID-19 Outbreak—While Locked Inside
One inmate at San Quentin Prison in California has been keeping his press contacts apprised of the situation during the pandemic via letters, many written on a typewriter. Kevin Sawyer, serving a sentence of 48 years to life is also the prisons newspaper editor, though operations stopped in March when prisons in the state went on lockdown in an effort to slow the spread of the virus. He wrote 8,000 words during just the first seven weeks of the pandemic. His goal is to document what is happening inside the prison during the pandemic. -
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? -
2020-05-14
Texas is spending $45 million on new coronavirus tests that prisoners are administering to themselves
"The state purchased 300,000 oral swab tests from a months-old California company. So far, only highly-infected prisons are using them for mass testing." The test has a 10% rate of false negatives. This test was given a rapid approval by the FDA and they have said anyone with symptoms and a negative test should be retested. The worry is without accurate testing of most inmates that the virus will spread widely and quickly due to unsanitary and cramped conditions. -
2020-05-04
70% of Texas prisoners tested have the coronavirus. Experts say it's time for more testing and fewer inmates.
Texas appears to have the worst outbreak of any state prisons across the nation and many relatives of incarcerated people believe the count is low. Inmates fear telling staff they don't feel well, infected and healthy people are taking showers together. As of the articles writing 1% of inmates across the state have been tested and 70% are infected with Covid. Many worry what effect this will have on the larger communities outside the correctional facilities. -
2020-06-05
Appeals court tosses order that required face masks, hand sanitizer for inmates at geriatric Texas prison
Two inmates filed suit in late March asking for better practices to protect them from covid. The judge sided with the inmates but by that time the Texas Department of Criminal Justice had already enacted similar protocols across the state, though many argue they are not followed. Texas Attorney General, Ken Paxton, is also quoted in this article saying, he "felons deserve personal protective equipment over frontline warriors." This is the same man that was quoted on new across the nation as saying that older people should be willing to die from Covid to keep the economy open for the benefit of their grandchildren. -
2020-06-16
Texas prisons will accept county jail inmates again, three months after the coronavirus halted intake
In an effort to slow the spread of Covid-19 inside of the state of Texas correctional facilities all transfers were halted in April but in beginning July 1 Texas will begin transfers. This all happens as the states case count and positivity rate begin to sky rocket. By mid July Texas becomes one of the nations three biggest hot spots. -
2020-07-14
Thousands of Texas prisoners still have the coronavirus. More than 25% of inmates at four units are infected.
"Two Texas prisons each have more than 670 inmates with active coronavirus infections, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the highest counts seen at any state lockup since the pandemic began." What makes this Covid so scary in a prison is that if caught it can turn a short sentence into a defacto death sentence. For this reason many advocate early release for nonviolent offenders but Texas Governor Greg Abbott does not agree. -
2020-07-04
He was supposed to be in prison less than a year. Instead, he died after catching the coronavirus.
A former Texas teacher was sentenced to a few months in prison to go through a rehab program after committing repeat DWIs. While incarcerated he contracted Covid and died. Texas has the highest mortality rate in its prisons, higher than even the Federal Bureau of Prisons. -
2020-07-23
The coronavirus is keeping Texas prisoners who've been approved for parole behind bars
When people are granted parole they often are not released immediately and are required to complete programming or set up things outside of the facility for when they are released. It appears thousands of people incarcerated in Texas are being held in prison because transfers to other facilities where these programs take place are not happening in an effort to slow the spread of Covid. This article gives the details and the difference between what incarcerated people are saying and those in charge. -
2020-08-02
Released Inmates Describe Ordeal Inside San Quentin During Coronavirus Outbreak
This news story talks with three men that were recently released from San Quentin Prison in California to learn about conditions inside the prison during the Covid-19 Pandemic. They all believe that the virus was brought to the prison when inmates from another California state prison, Chino, were transferred in. -
2020-08-07
Unlock the Box Campaign Tweets: Solitary By the Numbers
Because correctional facilities are not built with social distancing in mind the facilities often rely on solitary confinement as a place to quarantine people. This was happening with other contagious disease before Covid but as this graphic shows the number of people being sent to solitary confinement for Covid quarantine is very high. It should also be noted that a person sent to solitary confinement for quarantine due to illness is treated no different than a person sent there for disciplinary action. Imagine having Covid and being locked in there with no medical attention. -
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. -
2020-08-05
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. -
2020-08-05
My Incarcerated Father & Our Family Face Discrimination At Top Bay Area Hospital
A 74 year old man who was incarcerated in a medical facility was transferred to San Quentin in an effort to keep him away from Covid, but the botched transfer resulted in the opposite. He contracted Covid and was sent to a local hospital. While there the medical staff facilitated Zoom calls and the like with his family. After being transferred to the ICU the medical staff said because he was incarcerated they could not facilitate contact with his family. His daughter explains more. -
2020-08-06
Covid becoming a death sentence
This is the image of a Tweet from a physician expressing her sorrow over the death of an incarcerated person and her belief that incarcerated persons with Covid deserve the same care as anyone else. -
2020-08-05
Tweet about the lower prison population due to death from Covid-19
This person Tweeted that they feel the prison population is the lowest it has been since the 1990s because of people dying while incarcerated from Covid-19. -
2020-08-01
Coronavirus in Prison: The Cruel Reality
This article from Prison Legal News gives an exhaustive overview of the situation faced by the carceral system and all the people it touches. The author, Christopher Zoukis, explains the state of the virus, news coverage, community response, covid in prisons, Federal Bureau of Prisons, state prisons, discrepancies in date, states responses, lack of testing, medical care, and PPE, the personal impact, and human rights. -
2020-07
Tweets from Inside a Prison 07/26-08/01/2020 by Railroaded Underground
These images show the Tweets of an incarcerated person sharing their experience during the Covid Pandemic using a contraband cell phone. This week he talks about the guards delivering food to their cells and leaving it on the floor, the inmates response, their lack of access to showering, the lack of compassion, encouraging people to vote and hold politicians accountable, medical emergencies, death, and the general feeling of anger. -
2020-07-30
The Fight for Second Chances
As COVID-19 threatens the safety of inmates and staff in the Arizona Department of Corrections, families with incarcerated loved ones are pushing for the state to release some non-violent offenders early. So far, they have not swayed officials... but in November, voters will have a chnace to decide whether certain non-violent offenders should be able to earn time off their sentences. This story discusses the challenges of political activism amidst a pandemic. -
2020-07-17
Getting Out Of Prison Sooner
This NPR Planet Money podcasts discusses extremely long sentences, early release due to change in laws, particularly in Oklahoma, the cost of incarceration, and criminal justice reform from the ideal of physical conservatism. Plus a brief mention of early release due to the pandemic. -
2020-07-27
Protesters chained to governor's home as prison deaths mount
In an effort to urge the governor of California, Gavin Newsom, to release people incarcerated at the state's prisons and jails, and stop immigration transfers, protestors chained themselves to the fence outside the governors home. The fourteen protestors were wearing surgical masks and face shields to protect from the spread of the coronavirus. The protest was organized by the California Liberation Collective. The fourteen protestors that chained themselves to the fence were accompanied by many others calling for action in light of the continued death toll the virus is having on incarcerated populations, particularly at San Quentin Prison. -
2020-07-17
New COVID-19 cases in Tuolumne County include 4 prison employees
A rural jail in Tuolumne County has had some cases among staff and inmates since the pandemic began. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has secured a vendor for mandatory testing. -
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.) -
2020-07-25
119 New Covid cases in the last two weeks inside California prisons
This Tweet shows the continuing crisis inside of the nation's prisons. Five months into the pandemic and the virus is still spreading like wildfire. -
2020-07-19
Tweets from Inside a Prison 7/19-7/25/2020 by Railroaded Underground
These Tweets are from an incarcerated person at San Quentin Prison in California. He is posting to social media using a contraband cell phone in an effort to let the public know what is happening inside the prison during the Coronavirus pandemic. These weeks he talks about having to choose between waiting in line for a ten minute phone call and taking a shower, the long term health effects he is realizing will be with him from his bout with Covid-19, the high number of inmates refusing to take a Covid test because if they test positive they will be placed in solitary confinement, the hole, as quarantine. -
2020-07-12
Tweets from Inside a Prison 7/12-7/18/2020 by Railroaded Underground
This Tweet is from a person incarcerated inside San Quentin Prison in California. They are posting with a contraband cell phone. This week they mention finally getting a shower, the death of Covid positive inmates, Black Lives Matter, Covid testing, people who test positive being put in solitary confinement, the hole, as a quarantine, and the mixing of negative and positive Covid people together. -
2020-07-26
Hand sanitizer donation accepted at San Quentin never reached the inmates
These are images of a Tweet and the responses explaining how rapper, E-40, donated hand sanitizer to San Quentin for their incarcerated people and it never got to a single inmate. Many of the respondents believe the prison staff took it for their own use or to sell it. -
2020-07-14
ICE Prison Sees Outbreak of Coronavirus article
"The director of Farmville, a privately run immigration detention center in central Virginia, recently stated in court papers that at least 267 people currently detained there have tested positive for the coronavirus—and the numbers may spike further, with 80 people still awaiting test results. It took until July 2 to test all 366 detainees. Only 19 people tested negative. In addition, 22 employees of the detention center have tested positive. The detained population inside Farmville, as of Jul. 13, now totals 360 people." This article from The Daily Beast highlights the mistreatment of immigrants in detention centers as the COVID-19 pandemic unfolds. With a lack of testing, proper isolation methods, and mistreatment by guards, numerous detainees are getting sick and some are dying. -
2020-04-01
What Restorative Justice Can Teach Us About COVID-19 – And Ourselves.
This article is authored by a woman whose sister was murdered. She now works with a nonprofit called Restore Justice, based in California, whose goal is to positively effect change to all who are touched by violent crime. She reminds the reader that people can change and discusses how the large prison population can effect the population at large and those inside. -
2020-03-28
My Experience with Sickness, Quarantines and the Prison’s Healthcare System
The author of this article is a former inmate at San Quentin Prison in California. These days he focuses on justice reform through an organization he helped bring into being, Restore Justice. In this article he explains the medical system inside of prisons and his experience with lockdowns and solitary confinement as a place of quarantine during non-covid times. -
2020-07-16
Covid shuffle in corrections facilities
These images show the Tweet of Adnan Khan, a formerly incarcerated person and activist. Adnan explains that corrections facilities are moving people all over the prison and between facilities. The result is spread of the corona virus when the officials are charged with slowing the spread. -
2020-07-09
US prison inmates among those hit hard with COVID-19
Due to the architecture and structure of prison life, covid-19, once it sets into a correctional facility, runs rampant. This article explains the higher percentage of cases within the prison system in the U.S. -
2020-07-10
Freed From Prison, Dead from COVID-19, Not Even Counted
The Butner prison complex in North Carolina is also a medical facility. Basically a prison that is set up to take care of inmates with chronic illness and disease, like cancer, etc. This facility has so mismanaged the covid pandemic that the few people being released early in an attempt to slow the spread were released, only to find out they already had covid and died after boarding planes to travel home. -
2020-07-15
Inmates, Correctional Officers Concerned About Growing Number of COVID Cases at Miami Prison
In normal times it is customary for inmates and guards to be on opposite sides of nearly any issue. This article shows the opposite. Inmates and corrections officers in south Florida are both concerned about Covid in their facilities. -
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
Tweets from Inside a Prison 7/5-7/11/2020 by Railroaded Underground
These images show the Twitter feed of an incarcerated person. They are Tweeting on a contraband cellphone as a way to show the public what it is like to be in prison during the pandemic. This week he reveals that he has Covid and is experiencing symptoms including, headache, nausea, shivering, sweating, and diarrhea. Another friend has been hospitalized. He shared a petition to gain early release for incarcerated persons and wonders how being left in a cell 24 hours a day is humane treatment for a sick person.