Prisons Hesitate To Release Those That They Can

Alcatraz prison cells
Via Pixabay
William Anderson
May 28, 2020

You cannot social distance in prison or jail. That’s the reason many facilities across the country have taken major steps to free people that don’t actually have to be there after all.

Reducing these populations saves lives, but there’s a problem making things come up short.

State prisons are not taking the steps needed to actually prevent the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). 

While some jails have reduced populations by as much as 25%, state prisons are not doing what they should be doing - and Black people will be paying the price.

Since we’re overrepresented in prisons and jails, the likelihood of infection for people inside and out poses a risk to the communities those who are locked up come from. This isn’t as simple as it seems, and public health experts know what needs to be happening.

U.S. prisons systems have to release as many people as possible and focus on “decarceration,” or else it means we’re being unnecessarily put at risk.

Large outbreaks are ripping through prisons with a vengeance, and neglecting these people will NOT serve us well in the long run.

If we don’t address the ineffective, backwards way the U.S. is handling the crisis in prisons, we’ll be paying the price later. Another wave of COVID-19 infections are likely to return, in a potentially even worse way, during flu season - so we have to do everything we can for our people NOW.

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