According to reports, during the Covid-19 peak in April, there was a 500 percent increase in solitary confinement. Distinct from medical isolation, solitary confinement usually involves restrictions and reduced access to resources such as TV. This push to use solitary confinement to reduce the spread of COVID-19 likely resulted in prisoners not reporting symptoms [...]
The Michigan Daily reports that activists and students are criticizing Michigan's COVID immunization plan for not prioritizing individuals in prison. As COVID cases continue to rise in Michigan's prisons, activists and families of those in Michigan prisons are pressing for prisoners to have priority for vaccination because of living conditions in prison. Read more: [...]
Deadline Detroit reports that fewer Michigan prisoners were actually released in the pandemic's first year. As Covid-19 rages in Michigan’s prisons, delivering death sentences to more than 120 people who didn't earn them, the Michigan Department of Corrections has insisted it’s doing everything in its power to keep inmates safe. But that hasn’t included [...]
The Lansing State Journal reports that advocates are calling on Michigan to start prioritizing inmates for vaccination as COVID spreads through the state's prison system. The coronavirus has taken a staggering toll on Michigan prisons. More than 23,700 inmates have tested positive, Michigan Department of Corrections figures show, and 127 have died. The state's prison population [...]
ABC affiliate WZZM 13 reports that a coalition of groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, are urging the governor's office and the state health department director to prioritize the vaccination of people who are incarcerated. Currently all state of Michigan prison facilities have had outbreaks of COVID-19 and 123 prisoners have [...]
ABC News reports that as Michigan begins receiving vaccines for COVID, the Michigan Department of Corrections has started the process of vaccinating its health care staff against COVID-19. However, inmates will have to wait. Michigan classifies prison inmates the same as the general population, so they will not be eligible for the vaccine until [...]
NPR explores why US prisons, often major COVID-19 hotspots, are not getting vaccine priority. The article notes: The 2.3 million people incarcerated in the U.S. are nearly five times as likely to test positive for the coronavirus as Americans generally and nearly three times as likely to die, after adjusting for age and sex. But [...]
The Detroit News reported that Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a series of bills that would expand shields over young offender records, decrease the number of crimes punishable by suspension of a driver's license and reduce probation and parole in some cases. The legislation was based on research and collaboration from the bipartisan Michigan [...]
ABC News reports on how prison inmates face big risks of COVID virus exposure but are nowhere near the top of the list to get vaccinated in many states. They also report that, "Michigan has decided to treat prisoners like everyone else, vaccinating them based on their age and health problems and not prioritizing them [...]
Many inmates and their loved ones say that Governor Whitmer is wrong to claim that Michigan prisons are following CDC guidance. MichiganRadio.org reports that "42% of state prisoners have now been infected with the coronavirus" as families with loved ones in prison note that, "there's not enough soap or sanitizer, and many inmates are living [...]
