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Release People from Prisons and Jails to Curb the Spread of COVID-19 and Help Save Lives

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There are approximately 2.3 million people incarcerated in the U.S. in local jails, state and federal prisons, immigration detention facilities, Indian country jails and military prisons. The outbreak of COVID-19 is impacting all of us, though some communities are more likely to bear the brunt of an inadequate public health response, especially those held in our country’s prisons and jails.

People living in confined spaces with inadequate access to healthcare and hygiene make prisons and jails high risk environments for transmission of COVID-19.

People living behind bars have a right to health regardless of their incarceration, and not providing appropriate medical treatment, including holding prisoners who suffer from serious and highly infectious diseases with many other prisoners in an overcrowded cell, may amount to ill-treatment. While some states have released people from jails and prisons, so long as there are any people who have contracted COVID-19 within a prison or jail, the possibility of spread remains serious.

Urge your Governor to release as many people as possible to curb the spread of COVID-19 in jails and prisons and help save lives.

⬇ Make Your Voice Heard ⬇

Dear Governor {contact_data~lastName}:

Amid the COVID-19 global pandemic,  hundreds of thousands of lives are at stake. The outbreak of COVID-19 is impacting all of us, though some communities are more likely to bear the brunt of an inadequate public health response, especially those held in our country’s prisons and jails. I write to you on behalf of Amnesty International USA imploring you to do all in your power to prevent these deaths.

The right to health is not negated by a person’s incarceration, and every state must ensure that incarcerated individuals are included in its response to COVID-19. People held in confined spaces with inadequate access to basic hygienic tools and the inability to effectively distance or quarantine themselves are at greater risk of contracting this potentially fatal disease. Testing for COVID-19 in prisons and jails of both staff and incarcerated populations has been inconsistent across the USA. State and local jails and prisons have already come to see the deadly effect of COVID-19 on the incarcerated population and corrections staff, with some facilities reporting even larger rates of infection than the public living outside prison walls. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported at least one laboratory confirmed case of COVID-19 in 86% of jurisdictions that reported as of April 21.

States must act now to institute a comprehensive and effective plan to prevent and respond to this health crisis in all jails and prisons.

I call on you to:

- Put in place measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 within detention facilities and allocate specific funds and resources exclusively to guarantee the implementation of health and hygiene measures within facilities, such as adequate access to soap, sanitizer, disinfecting materials and mass testing of all staff and incarcerated people, at no cost.

- Prisons and jails with any positive cases should ensure that people deprived of their liberty can access specialized medical care and their families and legal representatives have access to regular communications channels with them.

- Reduce the prison population density, and in so doing ensure that no one is discriminated against. Consider whether incarcerated people already serving a portion of their sentences qualify for parole, early release, or other alternative non-custodial measures; release people in pre-trial detention, unless strong factors weigh against it. When doing such assessments, it is important to consider particularly if those in prison are older people or at greater health risk due to underlying medical conditions or with weak immune systems.

- Data should be collected and made public on the number of people tested, testing positive, recovered, those who have died from COVID-19 and those released or transferred to non-custodial confinement. This data should be disaggregated to include information on age, race, ethnicity, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, and disability of incarcerated people and corrections staff.

I urge you to use your executive authority to implement a comprehensive approach to curbing the spread of COVID-19 within the criminal justice system that includes: ensuring prompt and regular access to medical attention, provision of  adequate health care to people who are deprived of their liberty, urgently reducing the overall number of people in detention, mass testing, and collecting and publicizing data to demonstrate  progress in minimizing the threat of COVID-19 among incarcerated people and corrections staff. There is so much out of our control as this virus takes the lives of our community members and loved ones, however these recommendations are all within your power. So too, is the ability to protect the lives of people living behind bars and prevent further suffering and loss of life.

Sincerely,

{user_data~First Name} {user_data~Last Name}

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