The Marshall Project continues to track cases of COVID-19 and it's impact across US prisons. They note that a recent change by the Federal Bureau of Prisons to remove cases and deaths from its reports has reduced their ability to accurately track new cases or deaths in federal prisons. Read more: https://www.themarshallproject.org/2020/05/01/a-state-by-state-look-at-coronavirus-in-prisons [...]
The New York Times reports that dozens of individuals in prison have died who were approved for parole or not convicted. The deaths raise troubling questions about the way the country’s justice system responded to a pandemic that infected incarcerated people at more than three times the national rate. Defense attorneys, judges and some prosecutors have [...]
The New York Times reports that COVID-19 infections are nearly triple among US prisoners than the rest of the US population. Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/04/10/world/covid-vaccine-coronavirus-cases
America's prisons, jails and detention centers have been among the nation's most dangerous places when it comes to COVID-19. Over the last year, an average of 1,400 new infections and seven deaths were reported every day from these facilities. Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/04/10/us/covid-prison-outbreak.html
When asked why The Marshall Project is tracking COVID-19 cases in prisons, data journalist Katie Park said, “It shows us that this really is a serious issue behind bars. Typically, in the past few months, what I’ve seen is a rate of infection among prisoners that has been about four or five times that [...]
The Detroit News posted an opinion piece penned by Jonathan Sacks that examines the COVID pandemic and Michigan's prisons as a humanitarian crisis. This is a humanitarian crisis. Every day at the State Appellate Defender Office, we hear of clients who have tested positive and even died. William Garrison died weeks before his parole. Richard Palombo died after he [...]
In an article posted September 25th, michiganradio.org notes the terror and anxiety among prisoners caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. John J. Lennon was a prisoner at Sing Sing Correctional Facility in Ossining, New York. John said that social distancing was impossible. He shared how making calls on prison phones meant being "chest to shoulders" with [...]
The Intercept reported on September 28th that prisoners at Muskegon Correctional Facility in Michigan described how officials, "frequent, haphazard transfers contributed to the virus’s spread". The article notes how that until July, Muskegon Correctional Facility had zero cases. But then by the end of July, cases had skyrocketed. Prisoners reported that officials failed by: [...]
The New York Times published an article on June 16th covering the rise in coronavirus cases in prisons even while the rate of infection in the US population has generally flattened. The article notes: The number of prison inmates known to be infected has doubled during the past month to more than 68,000. Prison deaths tied to the coronavirus have also risen, by 73 percent since mid-May.
mLive reported on April 9th, 2020 that a second Michigan inmate died due to COVID-19 complications. As of April 9th, two inmates and two Department of Corrections staff have died from COVID-19. Read more: https://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/2020/04/2nd-michigan-inmate-dies-of-covid-19.html
