"Prisoners Around the World are Facing a Death Sentence Due to COVID-19"

In the U.S., a group called The Mashall Project has been collecting data on COVID-19 infections in penitentiaries with state by state breakdowns. As of the week of May 13th, there were at least 25,239 cases of coronavirus reported among prisoners, with 373 deaths. As with all COVID-19 related statistics, the real numbers are likely even higher. One of the virus hot-spots is Chicago’s own Cook County jail, which has become the nation’s largest-known source of coronavirus infections, according to data compiled by the New York Times. Cook County itself is a major virus hub, with approximately 1 in 77 people infected.

Even when additional precautions are taken, the effects are often minimal, leading to some seeking more drastic action. A number of disputes are being filed claiming that prison conditions and the lack of protection measures against the coronavirus are violating the constitutional right of prisoners barring cruel and unusual punishment. The ACLU has filed a class-action suit against Lompoc Federal Prison in the U.S. District Court of Los Angeles, arguing that the Bureau of Prisons showed a “deliberate indifference” to the pandemic and their failure to reduce the prison population in order to combat overcrowding was ‘inhumane.’

There are, however, some problems even with the release of prisoners. Attorney General William Barr’s plan to release ‘low-risk’ prisoners from federal custody relies on an algorithm that has shown to be susceptible to racial bias. The plan also does not override the Justice Department’s policy that bars all non-citizens convicted of immigration-related offenses from serving out their time at home. Let me make that clear: If you are in a federal penitentiary for immigration-related offenses, even if you committed an entirely nonviolent offense, you are ineligible for release, no matter your risk-assessment level for contracting the virus. That being said, ICE has released several hundred detainees in response to the virus, but there are still large swathes of people being held in what is essentially an illness time bomb.

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COMMENT-  This is an article written by advocates for change citing other advocates for change as authority.  The link to an article regarding incarceration is not a deterrent against crime is an article by the Vera Institute which claims that after any bail reform a failure to appear rate would be around 40% and that should be an acceptable number.  Of course, we know that a failure to appear rate that high would cause incredible injury to the criminal justice system.  

These groups should have no authoritative sway on the subject of bail reform.  These are the same groups which developed risk assessments and spent years championing them and getting counties and states to adopt them.  However, after many years, scientific studies pointed out that these tools should not be used as a part of criminal justice reform.  The largest technology companies pointed out that the tools had been rushed and not sufficiently studied before they were pushed by these groups and that the tools have a racial element and are terrible at predicting what an individual will do.

All of these groups then reversed course and now no longer support the use of risk assessments.  

The irony of all of this is that they still view themselves as knowledgeable and as a resource for criminal justice reform.  Please.  They should not be a resource for Betty Crocker.