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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. -
2022-06-10
Arkansas prison doctors and ivermectin
This is a story detailing Arkansas' Medical Board dismissing charges against a Washington County prison doctor for treating prisoners with ivermectin. Arkansas' Medical Board has not explicitly denounced the drug as a treatment for COVID-19, and many physicians prescribe the drug. This particular physician treated several unknowing prisoners with ivermectin in order to combat rising covid cases in the Washington County Jail in April. This dismissal of charges by the Medical Board reveals a deeper skepticism of the pandemic in Arkansas and a willingness of the board to allow physicians to treat their patients as they ultimately see fit with minimal regulations. I feel it also reveals a deeper understanding of Arkansas' prison system due to the prisoners not being informed of what was given to them, and therefore without consent. -
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. -
2021-01-22
Prisoner Vaccinations
Prisoners are currently at the top of the list to receive the COVID-19 vaccine with outcry from the public. People believe that prisoners should not be receiving the vaccine and are upset that they are ahead of those who they deem more "deserving." One reason prisoners are getting the vaccine ahead of others is that they have a communal living situation and cannot socially distance which is a stipulation stated in phase 1 of the vaccine distribution. The outrage further reveals people don't view prisoners as human or even deserving of basic human rights or decency. It is also interesting that there isn't as much public outcry over politicians who downplayed the vaccine or elders who may not have been adhering to COVID guidelines receiving the vaccine first. -
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. -
2020-08-25
Sidewalk art about inmates fighting California's fires
There have been over 8,000 fires in California during 2020, and CalFire has been short staffed due to COVID-19 lockdowns at prison facilities. Inmates and typically make up 40% of the CA's firefighters, and this piece of sidewalk art drew attention to the incarcerated people risking their lives to stop the fires. -
2020-09-20
Tweets from Inside a Prison 09/20-09/26/2020 by Railroad Underground
These images show the Tweets of an incarcerated person utilizing a contraband cell phone to let the outside world know about prison conditions during the pandemic. This week he talks about mind, body, soul, freedom, effort to locate contraband cell phones, lack of compassion, support, Breonna Taylor, the rule against shaking a free persons hand, using the word inmate removes humanity, prisons acting as a herd immunity experiment, journalists profiting from the pain of incarceration, and rock bottom. -
2020-08-24
ACLU of New Mexico Files Class-Action Lawsuit Against the State of New Mexico
The ACLU of New Mexico joined forces with both local and international law firms to file a class-action lawsuit against the state of New Mexico. The lawsuit states that the state of New Mexico has failed to protect the lives and constitutional rights of people held in the correctional system. HST580, ASU, New Mexico Narratives, New Mexico, lawsuit, constitutional right, correctional system, ACLU, incarceration, loss, death, safe practice -
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. -
2020-07-07
Surge of Coronavirus Cases Among Inmates
By Katelyn Keenhan/Luce Foundation: Southwest Stories Fellowship -
2020-08-28
A San Andreas Nursing Home is Experiencing a Rise in COVID-19 Cases
A nursing home in San Andreas, California is experiencing an increase in COVID-19 cases. Nursing homes can be a hot spot for infection as the residents are all at increased risk for the virus and live in a facility with several other people. Calaveras and Tuolumne Counties have had relatively low cases of COVID-19, though long term care facilities for the elderly remain a huge risk for infection. Governor Newsom is rolling out a new monitoring system in the coming days to place counties in the state under increased or reduced restrictions based on daily cases per 100,000 people testing positive. -
2020-08-21
As blazes spread, Covid-19 in California prisons hits crucial inmate firefighting force
California depends on prison inmate firefighters to be part of their wildfire defense teams. This year, due to illness and early release, they are missing half of their prison inmate firefighters. To help alleviate the shortage the Governor, Gavin Newsom, has called in the National Guard. -
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. -
2020-06-16
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. -
2020-08-02
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. -
2020-07-09
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. -
2020-07-01
‘They’re scared’: A look inside the COVID-19 crisis in Arizona prisons.
By Katelyn Keenehan | Luce Foundation: Southwest Stories Fellowship -
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 -
2020-06-16
Some inmates at California state prisons eligible for early release to stem coronavirus spread
In an effort to slow the spread of covid-19 in prisons and jails across the country some inmates are being released early. The public has had mixed reactions to this plan. Some support the measure because they don't want inmates sentences to turn into a death sentence from the virus and others are concerned the inmates released early are potentially harmful to public safety. California has already released inmates early and plans to release more on July 1st. This article goes over some of the details. -
2020-05-26
Prisoners released cannot get an ID with government office closed
During regular times previously incarcerated persons have difficulty re-entering society but a new problem has arisen for them during the covid pandemic. Government offices, such as the ones we all rely on to obtain a government issued ID/drivers license, are not open. Without an ID former inmates have trouble getting jobs and more. -
2020-05-29
Harm of peace or harm of fear
My first reaction to this subject, namely release prisoners amid the pandemic, was complicated. On one hand, like the ordinary, I worried about peace and the order of the society. On the other hand, however, I cared about the humanities side of human life; essentially, this affects all of us around the globe regardless of race, nationals, social groups, etc. Every life matters. So does the one in prison.