Jails Emptied in the Pandemic. Should They Stay That Way?
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Tuesday June 8, 2021 T: 582-7800 www.arubatoday.com facebook.com/arubatoday instagram.com/arubatoday Infini by Chef Page 8 Urvin Croes Aruba’s ONLY English newspaper JAIL BREAK Jails emptied in the pandemic. Should they stay that way? A corrections officer stands near a door at the Miami-Dade County Pre-Trial Detention Center, Friday, June 4, 2021, in Miami. Associated Press A2 TUESDAY 8 JUNE 2021 UP FRONT Jails emptied in the pandemic. Should they stay that way? Continued from Front court operations. source of income. Without "In the first few months, re- tional evidence of preexist- But in most places, the de- income, he has no way to ally almost all we did was ing conditions, new medi- By WEIHUA LI and BETH crease didn't last long: From pay rent, and he fears that releases," said Florida Cir- cal records or information SCHWARTZAPFEL of The mid-2020 to March 2021, unless a family member cuit Criminal Court Judge from family — and tried Marshall Project again, three and even four MICHAEL R. SISAK of The As- times, Eisinger said. sociated And it worked. By June of It wasn't long after Mat- last year, the Palm Beach thew Reed shoplifted a $63 County Jail had gone from set of sheets from a Target about 1,750 people before in upstate New York that the pandemic to 1,500, ac- the coronavirus pandem- cording to data compiled ic brought the world to a by the Vera Institute of Jus- standstill. tice. Instead of serving a jail "There was a real fear that sentence, he stayed at people were going to get home, his case deferred sick and die. Most judges more than a year, as courts did really factor that in," Eis- closed and jails nationwide inger said. dramatically reduced their The pandemic under- populations to stop the scored what reform advo- spread of COVID-19. cates have been saying for But the numbers have be- years: Cramped and filthy gun creeping up again as jails are the wrong place courts are back in session for most people who have and the world begins re- been arrested. turning to a modified ver- In many places, though, sion of normal. It's worrying the push to clear out jails The Palm Beach County Main Detention Center on Friday, June 4, 2021, in West Palm Beach, Fla. criminal justice reformers Associated Press and rethink incarceration who argue that the past has been short-lived. Mo- year proved there is no mentum for long-lasting need to keep so many the number of people in can take him in, he will be Nushin Sayfie in Miami- change is wavering in the people locked up in the jails awaiting trial or serving homeless when he is re- Dade County. face of a rise in crime — U.S. short sentences for minor leased in September. Bryan County, Georgia, including shootings and By the middle of last year, offenses climbed back up He doesn't understand the reduced its jail population other violence — after sev- the number of people in again by more than 70,000, point of sending him to jail from 37 to 11, according to eral years at or near historic jails nationwide was at its reaching nearly 650,000. now. the Vera Institute. lows. lowest point in more than "Reducing the incarcer- "They could have at least Sheriff Mark Crowe told Police leaders and union two decades, according ated population across the offered me drug court police in the surrounding officials in places like New to a new report published country is possible," said or some type of rehab or towns that he would only York City and Philadelphia Monday by the Vera Insti- Jacob Kang-Brown, a se- something," he said in an jail people charged with have blamed policies free- tute of Justice, whose re- nior research associate at interview from the Gen- serious crimes like domes- ing people from jail, though searchers collected popu- the Vera Institute of Justice esee County Jail last week. tic violence. It was a chal- there is little evidence that lation numbers from about and author of the new re- More than 40 people have lenge to persuade local people on release are half of the nation's 3,300 port. "We saw decreases in died of COVID-19 in jails law enforcement "to back behind the surge of new jails to make national esti- big cities, small cities, rural since the start of the pan- off on some of the minor of- crimes. mates. counties and the suburbs, demic, according to a fenses you'd normally send Some lockups were back According to the report, but the increase we see is Bureau of Justice Statis- to jail," said jail administra- at pre-pandemic levels shared with The Marshall troubling." tics survey of nearly 1,000 tor Larry Jacobs. "With traf- even before vaccines were Project and The Associ- In the Genesee County Jail jails. That is likely an under- fic offenses, we told them, ready last winter. ated Press, the number in New York, where Reed count; the virus has killed 'Write them a ticket, give In Philadelphia, District At- of people incarcerated recently began a six-month more than 2,600 prisoners them a court date and torney Larry Krasner, elect- in county jails across the sentence for petit larceny, and 207 staff in U.S. prisons, wave goodbye.'" ed as part of a wave of country declined by rough- there were, for a time, only where deaths are easier to As courthouses closed, high-profile, progressive ly one-quarter, or 185,000, 35 people jailed, down track. many defense attorneys, prosecutors, said the pre- as counties aggressively from 90 before the pan- Officials across the country, with none of the hearings cautions brought on by the worked to release people demic, according to data from small towns to suburbs and motions that usually pandemic cannot solve held on low-level charges, compiled by the Vera Insti- and big cities, realized the fill their calendars, focused the problems of the crimi- dramatically reduced ar- tute. danger and worked to get exclusively on getting cli- nal justice system. rest rates and suspended Defendants had court many people out of jail. ents out of jail. In Palm "I don't think that there's any dates pushed off, and judg- Public defenders and pros- Beach County, Florida, the way to take a completely es went to extra lengths to ecutors — typically on op- public defenders' office set anomalous moment — the allow people to wait at posing sides — collaborat- up a team "to keep review- most anomalous moment home rather than in jail. ed with judges, sheriffs and ing and reviewing people in criminal justice of the By March, there were 54 local police departments in custody and coming up century — and say that people jailed in the county to identify those in jail who with creative arguments," this is the new model," said lockup. could safely be released, said Dan Eisinger, the coun- Krasner, a Democrat. "But For Reed, who said he has and to make plans to send ty's chief assistant public ... if the question is wheth- struggled with an addic- fewer people to jail, ac- defender. If the judge de- er the most incarcerated tion to crack cocaine, go- cording to interviews with nied bond the first time, the country in the world should ing to jail has meant losing officials in more than a doz- team went out to look for be less incarcerated, the facebook.com/arubatoday/ his disability checks, his only en counties. more information — addi- answer is: Hell yes."q A3 U.S. NEWS TUESDAY 8 JUNE 2021 Time ticking away, Democrats face wrenching test on agenda By LISA MASCARO House-passed bill to ensure AP Congressional civil rights for the LGBTQ Correspondent community. Fed up by the WASHINGTON (AP) — Brac- delays, some senators are ing for political trouble, Sen- ready to change the rules ate Majority Leader Chuck to eliminate the filibuster, Schumer warned Demo- which they blame for the cratic colleagues that June inaction. The long-running will “test our resolve” as Senate filibuster rules re- senators return Monday to quire 60 votes to advance consider infrastructure, vot- most legislation, meaning ing rights and other stalled- as many as 10 Republicans out priorities at a crucial would need to cross party moment in Congress. lines to help Democrats Six months into the party’s achieve their priorities. hold on Washington, with Some senators propose re- Joe Biden in the White ducing the voting threshold House and Democrats to 51. But Manchin, in an- controlling the House and nouncing his opposition to Senate, there is a gloomy the voting rights bill Sunday uncertainty over their abil- as the “wrong piece of leg- ity to make gains on cam- islation to bring our country paign promises. together,” also restated his As Democrats strain to de- refusal to end the filibuster Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks to reporters after final votes going into the liver on Biden’s agenda, Memorial Day recess, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, May 28, 2021. — for now, denying his par- the limits of bipartisanship Associated Press ty a crucial vote needed in the 50-50 Senate are in- to make the rules change creasingly clear: Talks over said about the 2020 elec- often seen as a last chance split Senate, they face that could help advance an infrastructure pack- tion. The promise was that at legislating before the Au- mounting pressure from its agenda.