Justice during pandemic: Police seek to protect public and prisoners
| Austin, Texas; and Pasadena, Calif.
For an incarcerated person, visits from family and friends are 鈥渓ike life support,鈥� says Jeremiah Bourgeois.
Those visits, he continues, 鈥渉elp you maintain your humanity鈥� 鈥� and he would know, having spent 27 years in prison in Washington state.
But when the coronavirus outbreak was declared a pandemic March 11, those visits were one of the first things to stop. As tough as it is on incarcerated people and their families, it will protect public health, experts say. Mr. Bourgeois admits that, at first, he didn鈥檛 see it that way.
Why We Wrote This
Right now, public safety means reducing the number of people in jails. Are measures taken to reduce overcrowding during the pandemic likely to lead to permanent change in how prisoners are cared for?
鈥淚 thought it was more a matter of not wanting the virus to come out of the prisons,鈥� rather than protecting those inside, he says. 鈥淚鈥檓 so used to people not caring about what happens to prisoners.鈥�
The pandemic that has infected more than 400,000 people around the world and brought the global economy to a near standstill is reshaping society in dramatic ways. How Americans think and care about prisoners is one of them.
Editor鈥檚 note: As a public service, we鈥檝e removed the paywall聽for all our coronavirus coverage. It鈥檚 free.
There are 2.3 million people behind bars 鈥� many of them older and infirm, many without access to good medical care 鈥� and they have lived out of sight and out of mind for most Americans. But with the coronavirus crisis, conditions behind bars are now a public health priority.
Already, states are taking steps to release certain inmates from jails to lower their risk of exposure.
New Jersey is releasing 1,000 prisoners from jails this week, by order of the state Supreme Court chief justice, following similar moves in California. The intake and transfer of inmates and juveniles into California's correctional facilities has also been temporarily halted, with them staying in county custody for the next 30 days instead. New York City is releasing 300 nonviolent inmates from Rikers Island, after 38 prisoners and employees tested positive at the jail. Iowa, meanwhile, is expediting the release of about 700 people who have already been cleared for parole or work release.
On Monday, 14 senators sent a bipartisan letter to the Trump administration, asking it to quickly transfer to home confinement eligible, nonviolent federal inmates who are deemed at high risk for COVID-19.
And as more police and sheriff departments lower arrest rates and explore lowering inmate populations, more fundamental questions are emerging: Is this how things should have been all along?聽Are measures being implemented for the coronavirus era able to endure beyond the outbreak? And could any of this transformation be permanent?
The coronavirus 鈥渉as raised awareness that what鈥檚 going on inside matters, and it affects us,鈥� says Michele Deitch, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin who specializes in corrections administration.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not another world; it鈥檚 actually part of our public health system,鈥� she adds. 鈥淲hen we are through this nightmare situation, we may well be willing to make adjustments to our policies that recognize the need to continue some of those new practices.鈥�
The decentralized nature of the United States justice system means responses to COVID-19 have varied, as different jurisdictions seek to protect the health of their incarcerated population and the broader community while still fulfilling constitutional duties like the right to a speedy trial.
Local, state, and federal courts across the country have closed, from Bexar County, Texas, where justices of the peace have suspended eviction hearings, to the U.S. Supreme Court, which has suspended oral arguments.
As of March 20, some 15 states and the U.S. Bureau of Prisons had suspended all visitation, while 37 states were still allowing legal visits, according to a tracker maintained by t. Corrections administrators and law enforcement, meanwhile, have been taking a three-pronged approach: lowering admissions, speeding up releases, and improving overall hygiene and health screening of inmates and staff.
The front door
Local jail systems, which saw 10.6 million , are a critical front line in the country鈥檚 COVID-19 response.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e going to be the first place this starts,鈥� says Professor Deitch. They 鈥渘eed to be turning off the spigot of who鈥檚 coming into the system.鈥�
In Los Angeles County, home to the country鈥檚 largest local jail system, that鈥檚 what they鈥檙e trying to do.
LA County Sheriff聽Alex Villanueva is working the problem from both ends. He鈥檚 released inmates early, freeing those with fewer than 30 days left to serve. Deputies are arresting fewer people 鈥� though still arresting violent suspects. Offenders who would see their bail set at $50,000 or less are being given citations, an increase from $25,000.
The number of inmates in the jails has decreased by more than 1,000, and arrests have dropped from an average of 300 a day to 60.
LA County Public Defender Ricardo Garc铆a is continuing to talk with the sheriff鈥檚 office about more ways to safely reduce the inmate population and the risk of contagion. And on March 24 the Superior Court of Los Angeles ordered the release of an undisclosed number pre-trial inmates from the county jail.
A significant number of people are being held pretrial, not yet convicted of a crime 鈥� approximately 40% of the His greatest concern is an acute outbreak in the jails.
鈥淲e have huge swaths of people in jail who would do fine in the community if steps were taken to help them,鈥� he says.
Sheriff departments in Nashville, Tennessee; and Cleveland are taking similar actions. More than 200 inmates were released from Cuyahoga County jail in Cleveland earlier this month.
In Texas last week, the Fort Worth Police Department stopped making Class C misdemeanor arrests, while in Houston, the Harris County Sheriff鈥檚 Office is for some inmates in the county jail, where 540 people were 56 or older as of March 23.
In the prisons
The number of people age 55 or older in state and federal prisons increased by 280% . For decades sanitation and health care in prisons have been a low priority, according to Homer Venters, former chief medical officer for New York City Correctional Health Services.
Health care behind bars 鈥渋s poor and inadequate because it has been designed to be that way,鈥� said Dr. Venters on a March 13 conference call organized by The Justice Collaborative.
鈥淲e hear a lot about hand-washing as the most important [outbreak avoidance] tool. Most of the jails and prisons I鈥檝e been to around the country don鈥檛 have enough sinks,鈥� he added. 鈥淎nd if there are enough sinks, there isn鈥檛 enough soap.鈥�
And many prisons, jails, and immigration detention centers are full, if not overcrowded 鈥� an environment that, according to Dr. Venters, makes managing and preventing an outbreak 鈥渁lmost impossible.鈥�
Some departments have been providing inmates with soap free of charge and waiving fees for inmate health care, but they should be doing more, says Professor Deitch. Prisons should be expanding compassionate release, providing free phone and video calls, ramping up medical checks, and instituting de-escalation measures so public health restrictions within prisons don鈥檛 boil over into violence.
鈥淎nything we can do to get anyone out of there who doesn鈥檛 absolutely need to be there is smart from a humanitarian perspective, but also to reduce the spread of the virus in the community,鈥� she adds. 鈥淲hat happens in jails and prisons doesn鈥檛 stay in jails and prisons, and when we鈥檙e talking about communicable diseases like this, that鈥檚 especially true.鈥�
The back door
Texas announced on March 24 the first positive case of the coronavirus in a state prison inmate. There were about 9,600 people age 60 or older in Texas prisons in , with just over half of inmates behind bars for violent offenses.
鈥淭here are a lot of people in prison who don鈥檛 need to be there,鈥� says聽Jennifer Erschabek, executive director of the Texas Inmate Families Association. 鈥淏ut you can鈥檛 just kick them out the door and say, 鈥楽ee you later.鈥欌��
Still, for inmates and their families, the thought of a COVID-19 outbreak behind bars is never far from their minds 鈥� and restrictions on visitation, logical as they may be, have not helped.
For Jeff Gifford and his wife, visits to their son in the Darrington Unit near Houston have been what they live for. Since they lost visitation on March 13, their reactions have varied.
鈥淢y first thought was, 鈥榌Darn] it, it鈥檚 horrible.鈥� My second thought was, 鈥楾hank God,鈥欌�� says Mr. Gifford, a real estate agent in Austin.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a struggle,鈥� he adds. 鈥淲e鈥檙e just really happy the disease hasn鈥檛 spread inside yet.鈥�
鈥淵ou just don鈥檛 know how seriously [prison staff members] are taking the edicts set out by management,鈥� he continues. 鈥淏ut you hope for the best; that鈥檚 all you can do. That鈥檚 what we鈥檙e doing every day.鈥�
Something else Mr. Gifford, and many others, are hoping for is that, once the coronavirus pandemic has passed, people living and working in prisons and jails aren鈥檛 shunted back to society鈥檚 margins, and that new policies of compassion don鈥檛 disappear with the virus.
鈥淲e all need to be treating each other with more compassion and kindness right now, [including] in custodial settings,鈥� says Professor Deitch.
鈥淚f jurisdictions do what I think they need to do 鈥� that鈥檚 reducing the number of people held in their custody,鈥� she adds, 鈥淚 think we鈥檙e going to learn it鈥檚 possible to do that quickly and safely without putting public safety at risk.鈥�
Editor's note: This article was updated on March 25 to reflect new moves by states.
Editor鈥檚 note: As a public service, we鈥檝e removed the paywall聽for all our coronavirus coverage. It鈥檚 free.
