We’ve heard a lot about vulnerable populations when it comes to coronavirus, but one that’s not getting as much attention as it should is the prison population. Inmate living conditions can be a perfect breeding ground for disease. There’s generally high turnover; overcrowded, cramped quarters; subpar medical attention; shared sinks and toilets; a lack of hand towels and often a contraband ban on hand sanitizer because of its high alcohol content.
As Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) recently wrote in a letter to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, seeking details about agency preparations, “The risk of community spread poses a critical and unique threat to vulnerable populations, including those in our prisons and jails.”
The disease exploded in China’s prisons last month, with hundreds of cases reported across multiple facilities. And terrified Italian prisoners in Milan are protesting their sitting-duck status, while dozens of others in the southern city of Foggia outright escaped.
We have a few thoughts on steps states in the U.S. might take.
For starters, states should expand their “geriatric parole” criteria to release inmates over 60 who are ill. There’s no time like the present when it comes to coronavirus — particularly with that population, which is among those most at risk for deadly complications of the disease.
Officials should also carefully review the cases of inmates serving sentences that are nearing conclusion or who have compromised immune systems to determine if they could safely be released or monitored in the community.
And bail reviews should be undertaken for all nonviolent offenders — especially the poor people sitting in jail on low dollar amounts or low-risk folks being held on no bail.
We’d prefer money were taken out of the equation altogether, of course. You’re either a risk, or you’re not; how much you can afford to pay doesn’t affect that one way or another. And it’s extremely expensive to put people up pending trial, costing Maryland agencies at the state and local levels alone anywhere from $500,000 to $1 million a day. But we also recognize that the call to action from coronavirus is only so strong; comprehensive bail reform is a fight for another day.
But these are common sense steps that can be taken to reduce the risk of disease spread. Even Iran understands that. That country, the worst-affected in the Middle East, announced plans this month to “furlough” 54,000 low-security prisoners who’ve tested negative for COVID-19. If Iran can do it for their prisoners, surely we can for ours.
Or we could follow New York’s lead and exploit them further. The governor there is putting prisoners to work, making hand sanitizer for government agencies, schools and prisons, and tapping inmates on Rikers Island to dig mass graves should there be a need.
Thankfully, that’s not quite Maryland’s style. We’ve been working to shrink our prison population for several years now, recognizing that it’s largely made up of underprivileged people dealing with mental health and addiction issues, and that the judicial system unfairly targets African American men. Many caught up in the system never got the help and services they needed to avoid prison in the first place. The least we can do is make a good faith effort to protect them from the coronavirus outbreak so that their prison terms don’t turn into death sentences.