Coronavirus Spreads In Federal Prisons

[denem]

'They're All Really Afraid': Coronavirus Spreads In Federal Prisons

Federal prisons are wrestling with the rapid spread of the coronavirus at more than two dozen facilities across the country in an outbreak that has already claimed the lives of at least seven inmates and infected almost 200 more, as well as 63 staff.

One of the hardest-hit so far is the Federal Correctional Complex in Oakdale, La., located about a three-hour drive west of New Orleans. It's home to two low-security prisons and a minimum security camp, which all told house some 2,000 inmates.

"They're all really afraid," said Arjeane Thompson, whose boyfriend, Brandon Livas, is an inmate at the Oakdale camp. "They feel like they're sitting ducks, really just kind of waiting to get infected because it's getting out of control over there pretty quickly."

Their worries are well founded. Five inmates have died at Oakdale. Another 22 have tested positive, as have four staff, according to the federal Bureau of Prisons.

https://www.npr.org/2020/04/07/828319691/they-re-all-really-afraid-coronavirus-spreads-in-federal-prisons

[cwydro]

1. Ive had a worry about this for awhile.

Frightening.

[cyclonefence]

2. These poor prisoners

In jail for robbery, and now it's a death sentence.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. A federal prison wouldn't have robbers. Robbery is a state crime.

What they would have is a whole lot of large-scale drug traffickers. As bad as that is, though, they don't deserve to be sitting ducks any more than anyone else.

[cyclonefence]

4. Whatever their crimes

they weren't sentenced to death. Until now.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

8. Bank robbery, yes, but most robberies aren't bank robberies.

It's a relatively uncommon crime as federal crimes go.

But yes, none of these crimes carry a death sentence. There are very few federal crimes that do. I´m guessing that conditions are even worse in many state prisons and local jails.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

5. How many will suffer and die without their cries being heard?

It's not just Federal prisons, it's also city, county and state jails and prisons.

I truly hope there's some inmate advocate organizations that at least monitor this probable travesty in every state. I've worked with men in prison before as part of my recovery program years ago, and their life is dangerous enough without dealing with a pandemic. Health care is horrible and usually farmed out to the lowest bidder.

Let's all keep these men and women in our thoughts and perhaps contact some of those responsible for administering our jails and prisons with our concerns.

Funding for jails and prisons will be low on the line item list for government budgets as tax revenues drop....

[WhiskeyGrinder]

6. Decarcerate now.

[spinbaby]

7. I've seen calls to release prisoners

With the crowded conditions in prisons, they probably already have outbreaks going on. If we release the prisoners, they will likely carry Covid-19 back to their families. If they have no families, they will be jobless and homeless. Just shoving prisoners out without Covid testing and without appropriate social services is not a solution.