COVID-19: What's being done (or should be done) to protect inmates?

On my latest podcast (One Mother's Voice: In the Name of Justice), I discuss the barriers to coronavirus prevention in prisons and jails.

In the latest issue of The New Yorker, staff writer Jennifer Gonnerman tackles this issue in "How Prisons and Jails Can Respond to the Coronavirus." On March 6, The Marshall Project, a non-profit journalism site for criminal justice news, published, "When Purell Is Contraband, How Do You Contain Coronavirus."

“Jails and prisons are often dirty and have really very little in the way of infection control,” said Homer Venters, former chief medical officer at New York City’s notorious Rikers Island jail complex. “There are lots of people using a small number of bathrooms. Many of the sinks are broken or not in use. You may have access to water, but nothing to wipe your hands off with, or no access to soap.”

The real skinny is that prisoners have few, if any, options to protect themselves without access to sanitizing products, soap, clean water, or disinfected surfaces.

Remember, when prisoners come home, they bring with them whatever they might have contracted in jail or prison, thereby, putting families and communities at risk.

So, how can we (families, friends, community and religious leaders) advocate on their behalf?

Be vocal. Contact the jail or prison and ask what measures they are taking to prevent the spread of coronavirus. (Although, it might be tough getting answers from administrators.) Bring the problem to the local media. Contact local and state representatives and ask what they are doing to address the problem.

SOME CORRECTIONAL RESPONSES: Ohio jail released hundreds of inmates; Los Angeles is releasing inmates early and making fewer arrests; federal and some state prisons have banned visits; PENNSYLVANIA DOC waived medical co-pays for inmates with flu-like symptoms.

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