COVID-19COVID- 19 IInformationn format ion fforor PPrisonersr isoners anandd S Stafftaff  VolumeVlVolume 1 1N1,, NNumberum ber 3 AugustAugus t 20220200

WHY HAS COVID-19 NOT LED TO MORE HUMANITARIAN RELEASES?

By Dan Berger Bottom had fi rst joined the Panthers in of his . Since that can never change, alil Muntaqim, a Black Panther impris- the weeks immediately following the as- PBA pressure renders the parole board ir- oned since 1971, is one of thousands sassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. In relevant. Every sentence becomes a Jof elderly the United States prison, Bottom converted to Islam and de facto death penalty—as became evident has refused to free during the pandemic. adopted a new name, Jalil Muntaqim. Af- when one of Muntaqim’s codefendants, Al- In 1971, two weeks shy of his twentieth ter almost fi ve decades of incarceration, bert Nuh Washington, was denied compas- birthday, Anthony Bottom, a young Black Muntaqim has racked up a laudatory fi le sionate release for stage IV liver cancer. He Panther, along with another Panther, Albert of accomplishments. He earned two bach- died in a prison hospital in April 2000. Nuh Washington, were arrested following elor’s degrees before Bill Clinton ended When COVID-19 struck, Muntaqim’s a shootout with San Francisco police. The Pell eligibility for incarcerated people. He advocates argued before the state that his pair would be tried along with a third man, cofounded an organization, the Jericho life was in grave peril. Fourteen of the top Herman Bell, for a separate attack: the May Movement, dedicated to the release of U.S. twenty pandemic outbreak clusters have killing of two police offi - political prisoners. He has received numer- been and jails, and incarceration cers. They were convicted and sentenced ous accolades from human rights organiza- creates and exacerbates a number of health to twenty-fi ve years to life, the maximum tions for his dedication to social justice. He problems. At sixty-eight years old, having penalty in New York at the time. The judge has taught poetry, history, and alternatives lived for fi fty years in prison—and having who sentenced them said the sentence was to violence classes for other incarcerated survived a stroke, hypertension, and heart befi tting a society at war. people. When I fi rst began corresponding disease—Muntaqim is at extreme risk of Even the most liberal of U.S. governors with him nearly two decades ago, he was dying from COVID-19. He is one of more would rather risk their prisons turning into organizing a fundraiser for AIDS orphans than 9,000 people over the age of 55 who is mass graves than off er the faintest of ad- in Africa. incarcerated in New York. An estimated 10 missions that mass incarceration is unnec- In 2002 Muntaqim became eligible for percent of the nation’s prison population is essary for public safety. parole. Yet the Patrolmen’s Benevolence in this high-risk age group. Yet governors Association—the revanchist police frater- have thus far refused to act on clemency for nity that has shielded abusive cops and pur- elderly people. CONTENTS sued aggressive forms of social control— Recognizing the precarious situation, lobbied heavily against it, as it has every the New York State Supreme Court or- Humanitarian Releases...... 1 time he has come up for parole. The PBA dered Muntaqim’s temporary release at the U.C. Health Experts ...... 3 even set up a website to monitor the sched- end of April. In granting it, Judge Stephan ule of parole hearings for anyone convicted Schick said, “Mr. Muntaqim may have got- Covid News Summaries...... 4 of killing a police offi cer, allowing visitors ten a 25-to-life sentence, but it was not a to send an automatically generated letter to death sentence.” The state Black, Puerto Congress Woman's Bill ...... 6 the parole board opposing consideration of Rican, Hispanic, and Asian Legislative release. Caucus agreed, off ering a letter of support Anti-COVID Strike at WSP ...... 6 For decades, the PBA eff ectively con- for his release. Yet the state—led by Attor- The Reynolds Six ...... 7 trolled the parole board, and such pressure ney General Letitia James, the fi rst black ensured Muntaqim would be denied parole woman to occupy that role—appealed Sul- Breaking News ...... 8 every two years. Each time he has been de- livan’s ruling. As the appeal wound its way nied parole, the board has stated that its de- through the courts, Muntaqim sickened. On Virus Behind Bars ...... 9 cision is based not on his deeds in prison or May 25, he was transferred to the Albany his readiness for release, but on the nature Medical Hospital with COVID-19. Ten days later, with damage to one of his lungs, incarceration, and the generally abysmal has so thoroughly limited the imagination his kidneys, and liver, Muntaqim had re- levels of health care inside, four times as of political elites that even a pandemic can- covered enough to be transferred back to many incarcerated people as staff die from not dislodge their belief in the necessity of the prison infi rmary. That same day, June the pandemic. And the vast majority of mass incarceration. Their refusal of a broad 4, the Appellate Division reversed Judge those who have died have been black or humanitarian release of incarcerated senior Schick’s ruling. Muntaqim, the court said, Latinx—higher even than the already dis- citizens serving lengthy sentences—really must remain in prison. parate rates at which New Yorkers of color the lowest of bars—reveals, in its absurd New York’s intransigence fi ts with a outside of prison have succumbed to the perverseness, a deeper truth: even the most national pattern that the pandemic has pandemic. RAPP calculates that 81 percent liberal of U.S. governors would rather risk revealed. For while a number of munici- of the deaths in prison since the pandemic their prisons turning into mass graves than palities shrunk their jail admissions in the began, both related to COVID-19 and not, off er the faintest of admissions that mass early months of the pandemic, no state has have been people of color. Black people ac- incarceration is a colossal failure and un- meaningfully reduced its prison popula- count for 14 precent of New York state, 50 necessary for public safety. tion. Jails generally house people who are precent of the state’s prison population, but If liberal politicians struggle to admit awaiting trial but who are too poor to make 60 percent of the deaths since the pandemic this fact, conservative politicians con- bail or who are serving short sentences, began. tinue to run in the opposite direction, in- whereas prisons house people who have sisting that the carceral state alone stands been found guilty and sentenced to a year between civilization and chaos, despite all or more. In the restrictive purview of elite evidence to the contrary. In a speech that empathy, then, jails have been an easier branded Antifa—an umbrella term for an- sell for massive reduction. According to tifascism activists—domestic terrorism, an analysis by the Prison Policy Initiative, Attorney General William Barr menaced local municipalities have reduced their jail would-be demonstrators by saying, “It is a populations by an average of 31 percent. federal crime to cross state lines or to use State governments and the federal Bureau interstate facilities to incite or participate in of Prisons, meanwhile, have reduced their violent rioting.” He promised to “enforce incarcerated population by an average of these laws.” The law in question is part of just 5 percent. Typically, this has meant a the 1968 repressive Anti-Riot Act that was release of a few hundred people—some of appended to the otherwise laudatory Fair whom have not been released but merely Housing Act. Legislators rushed to pass transferred to home confi nement. And it's not just New York. Wash- this bill after King’s assassination and the The carceral1 state is anticipatory vio- ington governor Jay Inslee was widely tinderbox it lit nationwide; they colloqui- lence masquerading as responsive force. praised for his commitment to science- ally referred to their repressive cri de coeur A number of states have created an al- based responses to climate change and 3 as the “ bill” in honor most nonexistent category of those war- the pandemic. Yet even in a proclamation of the charismatic SNCC leader whose in- ranting release: people over fi fty-fi ve who declaring that elderly people are at particu- cendiary talks white legislators blamed for are serving time for nonviolent drug off ens- lar risk of contracting the pandemic and antiracist uprisings. es and who are within three months of re- that prisons are too crowded for people to Spontaneous uprisings are by nature un- lease. Yet few of the many septuagenarians practice eff ective social distancing, Inslee predictable, yet a cogent demand is emerg- in our nation’s prisons meet this restrictive only committed to releasing a few hundred ing from coast to coast: “Defund the po- categorization. As the group Release Aging people from a state prison system that con- lice.” People in Prison (RAPP) noted in its evalu- fi nes 19,000. Inslee’s order pertained only The carceral state is anticipatory violence ation when New York governor Andrew to those who fall into the elusive category masquerading as responsive force, and Cuomo created this impossible category, that political scientists Marie Gottschalk Barr has been preparing for this moment 98 percent of the people over 55 incarcer- has called the “non-non-nons”: nonvio- for a long time. Last August, Barr praised ated in New York are excluded from con- lent, non-serious, non-sexual off enses. In- police as “fi ghting an unrelenting, never- sideration for release under Cuomo’s plan. slee added a further narrowing claim that ending” war and deserving of “ticker-tape Meanwhile New York prisons remain the required people to be within three months parades.” Barr has actually made it harder epicenter within the epicenter, the high- of their release. In Pennsylvania, advocates for incarcerated people to get out of fed- est source of outbreak in the state with the have grown so weary of Governor Tom eral prison during the pandemic and then largest number of cases. As of June 9, the Wolf’s refusal to engage in widespread re- placed the whole system in state Department of Corrections and Com- leases that they launched a hunger strike on lockdown. Yet he was quick to criminalize munity Supervision reports 1,282 prison June 1. the nationwide protests against police vio- staff and 512 incarcerated people have Governors nationwide have pursued lence. He promised to utilize the Joint Ter- tested positive for the disease. Yet due to similarly limited initiatives. This is the re- rorism Task Force (JTTF), a collaboration low levels of testing, the comorbidities2 of form conjured by focus groups and vetted between federal and local police that began by police unions, not the one backed by in 1980 to stop a rash of bank robberies (in- 1. Editor's Note: The "carceral state" means all the formal ins tu ons of the criminal jus ce system. It's data. Five decades of mass incarceration cluding those allegedly committed by the a polite way of saying "police state." presence of two chronic diseases or condi ons in a pa ent. "the comorbidity of anxiety and depression 3. "cri de coeur" a passionate outcry (as of appeal or 2. Editor's Note: Comorbidi es is the simultaneous in Parkinson's disease" protest) 2 Prison Covid News ). This amounts to a federal redefi nition of any protest against UC HEALTH EXPERTS: SAN QUENTIN police as terrorism. The nation’s jails and CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK COULD prisons stand ready to detain the latest tar- gets of America’s long war. POSE THREAT TO ENTIRE BAY AREA Police departments heard the message By Kellie Hwang and Mike Massa, is the result of a long-running federal law- clearly, as they have targeted largely non- San Francisco Chronicle suit over conditions in the state prison com- violent demonstrations with a seemingly team of UC Berkeley and UCSF plex). endless amount of tear gas, fl ash grenades, health experts warned prison medi- While the memo is a public document, clubs, tanks, pepper spray, and mace. In the A cal offi cials in mid-June that they’d it has not been previously released. The past two weeks, we have witnessed a na- need to cut the population of San Quentin memo was provided to The Chronicle by tional police riot, complete with numerous State Prison in half to avoid a potentially the Prison Law Offi ce, which is suing the actions that would qualify as war . “catastrophic” outbreak there. state over the quality of prison medical New York police clubbed peaceful demon- But prison offi cials didn’t heed the warn- care. strators, then charged at them with SUVs ing and, since then, confi rmed coronavirus The memo argues that it’s diffi cult, if (this has been reported in Boston as well). infections among prisoners have rocketed not impossible, to create “social distance” In Philadelphia police cordoned demon- from 48 to 456, far outpacing any other fa- inside a prison, particularly one like San strators onto the highway and then gassed cility in the state and overwhelming a sys- Quentin, an aging facility with “exceeding- them all with no place to escape. Later, tem that waited too long to react. ly poor ventilation, extraordinarily close other offi cers posed for photographs with The memo by a team of health experts quarters exacerbated by overcrowding, and armed white vigilantes. Washington, D.C., warned that conditions were already “dan- inadequate sanitation,” the scientists wrote. police shot tear gas inside a private resi- gerous” and the only “We therefore recom- dence after the homeowner sheltered fl ee- way to control the mend that the prison ing demonstrators. Louisville police had situation would be to population at San no body cameras on when they shot and reduce the prison’s Quentin be reduced killed a black restauranteur who frequently population. The mas- to 50% of current ca- served police. Around the country, police sive outbreak at San pacity (even further have obscured their badge numbers before Quentin was sparked reduction would be engaging in unceasing violence. All this in by California cor- more benefi cial) via stark contrast to the muted response police rections offi cials’ decarceration.” gave armed reactionaries at state houses mishandling of the There are about just weeks ago. The police, writes critic transfer of infected 3,500 prisoners in Alex Parene, have taken the side of white prisoners from an- San Quentin. A 50% vigilantes. other prison. cut in population Meanwhile Muntaqim and hundreds The memo, submitted to the statewide would leave 1,750. of thousands of other incarcerated people correctional health care system on June 13, “An outbreak in North and West blocks have been abandoned to the courts and warned that San Quentin has “profoundly could easily fl ood — and overwhelm — COVID-19. In the face of federal threats inadequate resources” to deal with the surge San Quentin as well as Bay Area hospi- to break the backs of protestors, though, of cases, and failure to quickly address the tals,” they wrote in the memo, adding that the actions against state violence continue. crisis could have “dire implications” for they were concerned about older residents By returning daily to the streets, violat- the Bay Area, straining community hospi- dying if they get infected. ing curfews, seizing hotels shuttered by tals and risking the health of incarcerated Another area of San Quentin, the gym- COVID-19, caring for each other amidst people and prison employees alike. nasium, has been turned into an open dor- a pandemic and a rampaging police state, No prisoners at San Quentin tested posi- mitory, with prisoners bunked closely to- and pulling down racist statutes, thousands tive for the coronavirus in March, April or gether. The health experts wrote that they of Americans display heroic courage. They May. It was only after state corrections of- found this appalling and said it could lead are willing to give their lives to the work fi cials transferred 121 incarcerated men to to “a catastrophic super spreader event.” of remaking the country by ending polic- the prison from a virus-swamped facility in Another dorm in San Quentin, known as H ing and incarceration as we know them. Southern California that the outbreak oc- Unit, houses hundreds of men in bunks. Spontaneous uprisings are by nature unpre- curred. The transferred men were not tested The Berkeley and UCSF scientists urged dictable, yet a cogent demand is emerging for up to a month before they were placed the state to develop an emergency response from coast to coast: “Defund the police.” on buses, The Chronicle reported, and after team to manage the growing outbreak, to Every day in the streets of U.S. cities and they arrived at San Quentin, the virus be- speed up the testing process, and to assem- towns, these rebellions seek to overturn the gan to spread quickly. At least 1 of every 8 ble a fi eld hospital for treating sick prison- police state that consolidated in opposition residents at San Quentin are now infected, ers and separating them from the healthy. to Muntaqim and other black radicals of the and more than 40 staff . The experts raised an alarm about the lack 1960s. For in moving to defund police, we They sent the memo to California Cor- of space inside the prison to isolate the in- must also act to dismantle the prison sys- rectional Health Care Services, the feder- fected from the uninfected. tem where many victims of police violence ally appointed provider of medical care in reside.  the state prison system. (The arrangement Health Experts...... Continued on page 6

Volume 1, Number 3 3 More than 1 out of 3 tested federal than half (46%) of inmates released early inmates were positive for were Black, even though Black inmates coronavirus make up 54% of the state prison popula- More than 35% of federal inmates who tion. Meanwhile, 43% of inmates who were have tested for coronavirus were positive, released early were white, even though according to The Bureau of Prisons. whites make up about 32% of the prison https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/tested- population. federal-inmates-positive-coronavirus/ https://abc7chicago.com/illinois-re- story?id=71275461 leased-white-inmates-at-higher-rates-in- Black inmates make up a pandemic-report/6257415/ disproportionate share of Covid- With COVID-19, it’s time to move 19+cases in prison towards prison abolition Overcrowded prison accounts for Data from the Vermont Department of The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed nearly quarter of all prison Corrections shows that while black inmates inequities throughout our economic, politi- COVID-19 cases were almost 9 percent of the total prisoners cal, and social systems. Perhaps nowhere is One dangerously overcrowded prison tested for Covid-19 in the state, they made this injustice more pronounced than in our in Alabama has nearly a quarter of all the up nearly 18 percent of the prisoners who jails, prisons, and centres. As the state’s confi rmed COVID-19 cases among have tested positive for the coronavirus. number of inmates and detained persons in- inmates and staff . Black inmates were also 2.2 times more fected with COVID-19 across Canada con- https://www.alreporter.com/2020/06/19/ likely to test positive than white inmates. tinues to rise, it is vital that we reconsider overcrowded-prison-accounts-for-nearly- https://vtdigger.org/2020/06/16/black- our society’s attitude towards incarceration quarter-of-all-prison-covid-19-cases/ inmates-make-up-a-disproportionate- as a tool for solving complex social prob- share-of-covid-19-cases-in-prison/ lems. COVID-19 cases jump at southern https://ricochet.media/en/3188/with- NM lockup In Brazil's overcrowded jails, covid-19-its-time-to-move-towards-prison- State health offi cials say 55 additional COVID-19 breeds fear and calls for abolition state inmates and nine more federal in- change mates have contracted COVID-19 at the As COVID-19 deaths rise in Brazil’s vi- San Quentin: outcry after Covid-19 Otero County Prison Facility, which has olent and overcrowded jails, activists have cases at California prison triple in had four deaths related to the virus and called for tens of thousands of prisoners two weeks nearly 650 cases. The New Mexico Cor- to be released to stop the disease taking a The number of coronavirus cases in rections Department says 362 of its 497 heavy toll on inmates, most of whom are California’s San Quentin state prison has inmates at Otero County prison have CO- young black men. tripled within the last two weeks, prompt- VID-19 – or 73%. https://www.reuters.com/article/us- ing advocates, families and attorneys to de- https://www.abqjournal.com/1468275/ health-coronavirus-prison/in-brazils-over- mand urgent action to fast track the release covid-19-cases-jump-at-southern-nm- crowded-jails-covid-19-breeds-fear-and- of prisoners and curb the spread among prison.html calls-for-change-idUSKBN23N0LF correctional offi cers. https://www.theguardian.com/us- Mississippi reports 83 COVID-19 As COVID-19 spreads In prisons, news/2020/jun/18/san-quentin-covid- cases in inmates and employees lockdowns spark fear of more 19-cases-california-prison The Mississippi DOC released the num- solitary confi nement ber of inmate and staff who tested positive Prisons across the country have placed All inmates to be tested for for COVID-19. MDOC is reporting a to- prisoners on lockdown — they're kept in COVID-19 at state prisons in North tal of 83 cases in inmates and employees. their cells mostly around-the-clock — as a Carolina 51 inmates and 32 employees have tested way to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Offi cials have announced that all inmates positive for coronavirus, according to the Now prison reformers are worried that the will be tested for COVID-19 at state pris- numbers posted June 19. response has increased the use of a practice ons in North Carolina. The announcement https://www.wjtv.com/news/mdoc-re- they've long fought: solitary confi nement. of this testing comes after a court order that ports-83-covid-19-cases-in-inmates-and- https://www.npr. all inmates be tested. employees/ org/2020/06/15/877457603/as-covid- https://www.wbtv.com/2020/06/18/ spreads-in-u-s-prisons-lockdowns-spark- all-inmates-be-tested-covid-state-prisons- Covid-19 continues to spread in fear-of-more-solitary-confi nemen north-carolina/ UAE prisons The coronavirus pandemic is continuing Coronavirus cases rise sharply in Coronavirus Update: Illinois to spread inside the prisons in the United prisons even as they plateau released white inmates at higher Arab Emirates amid claims that the author- nationwide rates in pandemic, report says ities are covering up the extent of the out- Prison offi cials have been reluctant to do White inmates in Illinois are having their break and have refused to provide the true widespread virus testing even as infection sentences shortened during the coronavi- number of inmates infected with the virus. rates are escalating. rus pandemic at a higher rate than Black https://www.middleeastmonitor. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/16/us/ inmates. 3,400 people early from Illinois com/20200622-covid-19-continues-to- coronavirus-inmates-prisons-jails.html prisons between March 1 and June 4. Less spread-in-uae-prisons/

4 Prison Covid News Covid-19 imperils packed Egypt The coronavirus pandemic is continuing inside-the-uss-largest-maximum-security- prison to spread inside the prisons in the United prison-covid-19-raged Fears are mounting over the safety of Arab Emirates amid claims that the author- prisoners in Egypt’s notorious Tora prison, ities are covering up the extent of the out- Courts try to fast track release of as rights groups say parts of the complex break and have refused to provide the true thousands of low-risk prisoners have been cordoned off to quarantine those number of inmates infected with the virus. amid COVID-19 outbreak diagnosed with coronavirus. Families of https://www.middleeastmonitor. California's Governor said that the state prisoners said eff orts to contain virus are com/20200622-covid-19-continues-to- hopes to expedite the release of several purely cosmetic. spread-in-uae-prisons/ thousand low-risk inmates at state prisons https://www.theguardian.com/global- such as San Quentin that have seen out- development/2020/jun/22/it-would-spread- COVID-19 spreads in women’s breaks of the COVID-19 coronavirus in quickly-in-those-cells-covid-19-imperils- prison where sexual abuse their populations. packed-egypt-prison prompted federal probe https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal. In a women’s prison where federal au- com/2020/06/24/coronavirus-courts-try- Gov. Wolf: Pennsylvania reduced thorities said the state failed to protect to-fast-track-release-of-1000s-of-low-risk- prison population by record-setting prisoners from sexual abuse,two prisoners san-quentin-inmates-amid-covid-19-out- 3,471 since March 1 had died from COVID-19 at the Edna Ma- break/ Governor Tom Wolf announced today han Correctional Facility for Women near that since March 1, the population of those Clinton, while 114 inmates and 77 staff had In the middle of a pandemic, in state correctional facilities has been re- been confi rmed with the virus, according to prisoners at San Quentin are duced by 3,471 individuals, the largest the latest data from the Department of Cor- punished for being sick multiple-month decrease ever experienced rections. Ralph Diaz, secretary of the California by the Department of Corrections and one https://www.njspotlight.com/2020/06/ Department of Corrections and "Rehabili- that helped the department reduce the num- covid-19-spreads-in-womens-prison- tation", asked state prisoners to tell a doc- ber of COVID-19 cases in facilities. where-sexual-abuse-prompted-federal- tor or nurse if they feel symptoms of CO- https://www.governor.pa.gov/newsroom/ probe-say-inmates-and-advocates/ VID-19, and said that doing so would help gov-wolf-pennsylvania-reduced-prison- stop the spread of the virus and keep ev- population-by-record-setting-3471-since- States engaged in 'gross eryone safe. At San Quentin, however, pris- march-1/ negligence' in Covid-19 response in oners are reluctant to report when they’re jails and prisons, new report fi nds sick—everyone knows they’ll be sent to Judge denies state request to with- States have responded to the threat of The Hole, where prisoners are kept in the hold some information about Covid-19 in jails and prisons with "gross punishing conditions of solitary confi ne- COVID-19 prison precautions negligence," according to the ACLU and ment. A judge has denied a request from the the Prison Policy Initiative. As of June 22, https://theappeal.org/san-quentin-state- N.C. Department of Public Safety that more than 570 incarcerated people in the prison-coronavirus-solitary-confi nement/ would modify an order to allow the agency US and more than 50 corrections offi cers to keep from reporting certain information have died due to Covid-19, the report said. The coronavirus crisis inside about COVID-19 in prisons. Wake Coun- Jails and prisons have become hotspots prisons won’t stay behind bars ty Superior Court Judge Vince Rozier, Jr. for new cases. Despite the warnings, the Federal offi cials recognized the danger signed an order that found DPS had likely systems failed the incarcerated, the report of the spread of coronavirus in prisons violated prisoners’ constitutional rights by concluded. early, but have dragged their feet releasing failing to properly protect them from the https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/25/health/ at-risk inmates. virus. state-response-covid-jails-prisons-trnd/ https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/25/ https://www.wbtv.com/2020/06/22/ index.html opinion/coronavirus-prisons-compassion- judge-denies-state-request-withhold-some- ate-release.html information-about-covid-prison-precau- Wisconsin receives an F+ grade for tions/ handling of COVID-19 in prisons ‘A moral failure’: California not isconsin has received an F+ grade from tracking jail inmates and staff the national American Civil Liberties infected with coronavirus Union and the Prison Policy Initiative for More than three months into the coro- its handling of the COVID-19 coronavirus navirus pandemic, California offi cials say Inside the U.S.’s largest maximum crisis in prisons, according to a report just they still have no plans to collect and pub- security prison, COVID-19 raged released. lish basic data about COVID-19 testing and Inmates at Angola prison in Louisiana https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/ outbreaks in local jails. told ProPublica of widespread illness, crime-and-courts/wisconsin-receives-an- https://www.sacbee.com/news/coronavi- dysfunctional care and deadly neglect as f-grade-for-handling-of-covid-19-in-pri- rus/article243724172.html the coronavirus outbreak hit. As prisoners sons/article_d9f9597c-8f73-55ca-9f16- died, offi cials called their response to the a031aa876674.html Covid-19 continues to spread in virus a "success." UAE prisons https://www.propublica.org/article/ Virus News ...... Continued on page 10 Volume 1, Number 3 5 Health Experts..... Continued from page 3 CONGRESS WOMAN PUSHES “It is a frightening public health reality that in a matter of days there may be no TO FREE PRISONERS FROM cells to isolate a potentially infectious CO- "CORONAVIRUS DEATH SENTENCE" VID-19 patient,” they wrote. This warning proved prophetic: In the S prisons and jails need to move bigger structural change also needs to hap- last few days, San Quentin has run low on swiftly to release pre-trial, older pen,” Tlaib added. cells with solid doors for isolating patients Uand medically-vulnerable inmates She pointed out that in her home state and is now trying to turn other housing or face a humanitarian crisis of vast propor- of Michigan the costs of incarceration dis- units into COVID-19 wards. tions as coronavirus ravages custodial insti- torted public spending. “We have high rates The health experts also wrote that cor- tutions across the country, the Democratic of poverty, housing crises, the water isn’t rections offi cers and nurses at San Quentin congresswoman Rashida Tlaib warns. clean yet in Flint – and the number one are not always wearing masks, even though Tlaib has introduced new House legisla- budget line-item in the state of Michigan they are required to, and offi cers common- tion that would use federal funding as le- is corrections. Not education, not public ly move between housing units during the verage to push states to reduce their incar- health, corrections,” she said. course of their shifts, potentially carrying cerated populations during the coronavirus Tlaib recalled what one of her constitu- the virus from place to place. crisis. Those inmates eligible under the bill ents told her recently: “Being poor and “This is an enormous risk for the spread for immediate release for up to a year after black in America always leads in some sort of COVID-19 between units,” the memo the pandemic ends would include: of way to being hit by police or the prison concluded. • inmates awaiting trial industry.”  During a news conference about CO- • those serving misdemeanor sentences https://www.theguardian.com/us- VID-19, a Chronicle reporter asked Gov. • immigrants in Ice detention news/2020/jun/26/rashida-tlaib-prisons- Gavin Newsom if the state planned to re- • pregnant women and primary caregivers coronavirus-covid-19 lease large numbers of incarcerated people • inmates over 55 or those medically-sus- at San Quentin and other California prisons ceptible to coronavirus dealing with big outbreaks. The bill, known as the Dismantle Mass DOC Confi rms Partial Food “You’re right,” Newsom said. “San Incarceration for Public Health Act, is one Strike At Walla Walla Pen. Quentin is a concern.” He said that a plan of the boldest eff orts yet to tackle mass in- On June 16 a Tri-Cities TV station report- to release about 3,500 nonviolent off enders carceration amid the pandemic. ed the food strike was started to bring atten- throughout the state system is already in “This bill is just the start of a goal to end tion to what the inmates perceived as poor the works, set to begin on July 1, and peo- mass incarceration for all, something our practices regarding COVID-19, according ple who qualify under that program at San local and national advocacy groups have to two family members of inmates. The re- Quentin may be released sooner. But he did been fi ghting for decades,” Tlaib said. port said complaints revolved around the not commit to the sort of sweeping release As the coronavirus pandemic has swept inmates not seeing proper use of personal that the UC experts say is necessary. the country, correctional facilities, along- protective equipment by food handlers and “We don’t want to just throw people out side nursing homes and meat packing not receiving proper gear themselves. The on the streets and sidewalks,” Newsom plants, have become major hubs of disease. Penitentiary has confi rmed four cases of said. “That wouldn’t be humane, either.”  According to the New York Times, all of the virus since the pandemic began. Two the top fi ve clusters of the virus across the staff members and two prisoners have had US are now in prisons and jails. the virus, according to the DOC website. Free Electronic Copy Modelling by the American Civil Lib- This newsletter has received additional erties Union (ACLU) has warned that US reports from WSP: "On June 26 we were Outside folks can have a free jails alone could act as such powerful in- told in the last two days three people at electronic copy of this newslet- cubators of the illness they could add an- WSP BAR units and Adams unit fell out ter emailed to them each month. other 100,000 deaths to the current toll of and are being tested for covid." Also, it Have them send a request for a 121,000. So far that catastrophe has not seems guards are not following safety pro- digital copy to: been realized, with latest estimates suggest- cedures. "On June 20, 2020 at 1:00 pm at [email protected] ing that 627 inmates and staff have died and WSP law library two CO's [guards] one of with 70,000 confi rmed cases of infection. whom was checking-in inmates were not Also, back issues can be down- But those numbers are likely to be gross wearing face coverings. The inmate law loaded or read online under the under-counts given the extremely low rate clerk asked if face coverings were now op- Newsletter menu at: of diagnostic testing in custodial institu- tional. The CO appeared agitated by this https//www.prisoncovid.com tions. The virus has also proven itself ca- question and ordered the law clerk to return pable of ripping through custodial environ- to his unit. We spent the session without a Send article submissions and ments at terrifying speed. law clerk and we also understood the mes- letters to: “We have an incarceration epidemic that sage: keep your mouth shut. It should be Prison Covid Newsletter has devastated black communities for de- noted no staff were taking temperatures." PO Box 48064 cades. So yes, the nationwide protests are Prisoners can send updates through let- Burien, WA 98148 happening because of police brutality but ters or J-Pay to communicate with us. 

6 Prison Covid News THE REYNOLDS SIX ARE ILLUMINATING CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAKS SOME OFFICIALS WOULD RATHER KEEP IN THE DARK June 29, 2020 lost in the system. it’s critical we keep top of mind the 2.3 mil- By Naomi Ishisaka At a June 4 news conference, families of lion people currently trapped in our “Amer- Seattle Times columnist the men were joined by lawmakers, com- ican ” of mass incarceration, the larg- other Brown knew something munity organizers, attorneys and other est in the world. This can be hard to do, as was wrong. Her son, Isaiah P. leaders to raise public awareness of the the system itself even in the best of times is MThomas, 24, had just a few more dangers of COVID for incarcerated peo- designed to make it hard to communicate months left at the Reynolds Work Release ple and to call for the men to be returned with or keep track of incarcerated people or facility in Seattle after serving time in to Reynolds or released to their families. independently verify what happens within Washington Corrections Center in Shelton. Weeks after the press conference, four of prison walls. He was excited to be coming home, she the men were sent back to work release, Coronavirus raging largely unchecked said, but then she suddenly stopped hearing and two sent home. makes this even harder, as outside visits from him. The Reynolds Six case is just one ex- are no longer allowed in many places. This It was the “worst fear for a mother,” she ample of the coronavirus crisis sweeping leaves a vulnerable population even more said. “Where’s my child at?” jails and prisons across the U.S. As of Fri- vulnerable. At the Yakima County Jail, for Brown, who prefers the name Mother day, nearly 49,000 cases of coronavirus example, an outbreak doubled in size over Brown, called, wrote letters, and got no- were reported among incarcerated people the past few weeks while jail guards re- where until community members helped nationwide, with nearly 550 deaths. These sisted wearing masks. Some incarcerated her locate her son. Thomas had been sent numbers are likely an undercount due to people who have tried to bring attention to back to the prison in Shelton, along with insuffi cient testing. And as of June 16, their plight have faced solitary confi nement four other men, whom community advo- “America’s largest jailer,” the federal Bu- as a consequence. cates have dubbed the “Reynolds Six.” reau of Prisons, had tested only 13% of in- Aneelah Afzali, the executive director The saga of the Reynolds Six began on carcerated people. Once widespread testing of MAPS-AMEN (American Muslim Em- May 1, after coronavirus infections inside was done in one Ohio prison, for example, powerment Network), was one of the com- the facility led family members of the in- more than 70% of incarcerated people test- munity leaders who stepped up to support carcerated men to protest outside to de- ed positive for the virus. the Reynolds Six. “The lives of these six mand safer conditions for their loved ones. men and their families have been devas- In what family members say was retali- tated, all because some family members — ation for the protest, fi ve of the men were specifi cally, Black Muslim women — had sent to the Shelton prison, including the the audacity to call for safety inside DOC man whose family was leading the protest. facilities in the middle of a global pandem- One of the men, Abdizikar Mohammed, ic.” was infected with COVID-19 and sent to Gov. Jay Inslee released 950 incarcerated Monroe Correctional Complex. There he people to reduce the incarcerated popula- was placed in isolation for 22 days and de- tion and prevent the spread of the virus, but nied books and treatment, said Columbia Columbia Legal Services is seeking a much Legal Services attorney Nick Allen — ac- wider release of 11,700 people. Their ini- tions Allen said seemed like tial eff ort was rejected by the state Supreme for testing positive for coronavirus. All but Court in April but they fi led a new motion one of the men are Black, or Black and In- last week to revisit the case, in light of the digenous, and two are Muslim. jump in cases and the outbreak at Coyote The Department of Corrections said the Ridge. fi ve sent to Shelton were given disciplinary As these outbreaks increase, those on the infractions — which were all either later outside must do everything possible to en- removed or reduced — and then sent to sure prison sentences don’t become death Shelton for not going back to their rooms. In Washington, 143 incarcerated people sentences. If the goal was to silence the protest at have been infected, with the vast majority Mother Brown just wants to see her son Reynolds by putting the men and their from an outbreak at Coyote Ridge Correc- home safe. families in more vulnerable positions, it tions Center, where two people have now “The men [at Reynolds] are living in a had the opposite eff ect. Unlike most of died. Of those who have been tested, Co- mixed population,” she said, of people with the millions of incarcerated people in the lumbia Legal Services said that 19% tested coronavirus and people without. “It’s ter- U.S. whose circumstances and struggles go positive, a rate three times the rate of the rifying when we’re at home in our cozy largely ignored, the Reynolds Six have gar- general population. houses ordered to stay in the house by our nered advocates who are doing everything As we increasingly look to transform our local offi cials, what’s happening to our they can to ensure that their voices aren’t criminal legal system from the ground up, loved ones.” 

Volume 1, Number 3 7 JUSTICE FOR THE REYNOLDS SIX SAN QUENTIN

he Reynolds 6 tried to bring atten- seems more likely to have been done to aid PRISONERS tion to the dangers of COVID-19 a cover up than to be accountable for medi- HUNGER STRIKE Toutbreaks in DOC facilities. They cal neglect. In fact, after the men’s transfer were sent back to prison from work release back to prison, they were placed in solitary AMID MASSIVE for trying to address this growing public confi nement, isolated from their families, health crisis, one that disproportionately and kept from showering and other needed VIRUS OUTBREAK aff ects Black and BIPOC communities. hygiene. Part of resolving the harm done s the novel coronavirus spreads After the family of one of the men at means understanding that Black and Brown rapidly through California’s San Reynolds Work Release facility advocated people are furthest away from the medical AQuentin State Prison, around 20 for safer conditions during a COVID-19 care they need during the COVID pandem- prisoners have launched a hunger strike to outbreak, the Department of Corrections ic in DOC facilities. With the Black death protest inhumane conditions inside. The (DOC) threw six men back in prison. DOC rate is at 3x the rest of the population, we hunger strike began on June 29th, accord- did this retaliation without due process. demand that the DOC release these men ing to the men, who are incarcerated in the This case is about: and acknowledge the harm done. prison’s Badger unit. As of July 1st, 1,135 • Public health during the COVID pan- This story impacts the issue of COV- prisoners—almost a third of San Quentin’s demic in DOC facilities. ID-19 in prisons. As outbreaks grow, how incarcerated population—have active CO- • Families being unfairly punished for are prisoners being treated when they are VID-19 infections.  merely speaking out to protect their ill? Covid-19 has hit our prison system and https://theappeal.org/san-quentin-hun- loved ones. is being used as a method of punishment ger-strike-coronavirus-outbreak-california- • Racism and abuse from DOC offi cials instead of recognized as a reason to priori- prison/ Instead of heeding the call for safety tize safety. The Reynolds 6 suff ered poor from Black families, DOC aggressively re- living conditions as Covid-19 made its way taliated by kicking out not only two Somali through Reynolds Work Release. One man PRISONERS AT men but also three other Black men and was sent to Monroe Prison while sick with one white man. COVID-19 and placed in isolation for 22 LANE COUNTY The “Reynolds 6” should all be home days despite having diffi culty breathing. with their families right now. Instead, they This is a hidden injustices, an example ARE STRIKING thrown back into prison when awareness of what happens when torture and mistreat- DUE TO LACK was raised about unsafe conditions. We are ment are not caught on camera. While some all still facing additional time, though pub- injustices and crimes against Black people OF COVID-19 lic pressure eventually resulted in 3 of the and people of color are caught on camera, men being returned to work release. many more are hidden by the system. The PROTECTIONS When reviewed, on their face DOC in- Reynolds 6 is one of those hidden injus- our pre-trial detainees have not eaten fractions for the men are fl imsy. They were tices found within the prison system which since last Sunday due to a lack of essentially thrown back in prison for need- lacks transparency and accountability. FCovid-19 protections in Lane Coun- ing to use the restroom... Their charge is The will of a mothers. We know that ty Jail. At least one of the four detainees having “went to the bathroom”. This pun- Black people and people of color have a who is striking is Bryan MacDonald, who ishment could have been a death sentence. higher chance of being mistreated by our earlier this month along with four other We remain troubled by the DOC’s denial justice and prison systems. The fi ght to detainees fi led a lawsuit that claims that of xenophobia and, specifi cally, anti-Mus- change this is often led by their mothers. health and safety measures enacted within lim sentiment. These incidents began to un- Here are the stories of Seattle area moth- the jail are not in fact making detainees any fold during Ramadan. The Muslim mem- ers who are trying to bring their sons back safer. The measures inacted are preventing bers of the group were fasting. The Muslim home where they belong. social visits, religious gatherings, and ac- man in the group who tested positive for People are now having a growing collec- I am no longer accepting COVID-19 received egregious treatment tive conversation about abolitionism and at Monroe prison. Though the DOC denies are asking themselves why this movement the things I cannot change, being punitive, East African families have is needed. The Reynolds 6 is an example come forward to say that DOC staff began of how the institution of prison is weap- by badgering their loved ones about social onized and harms communities instead of media posts of women in hijab who raised helping them. By throwing six men back concerns about the COVID-19 outbreak at into prison during a deadly pandemic, they Reynolds. torture not only the Reynolds 6, but also The Reynolds 6 case shows that DOC their families. Their mothers, sisters, and is handling the COVID outbreak poorly. brothers. Their sons and daughters. Their They have acted in a way that was meant friends. Their neighbors. Their community. to silence families of color in particular. This impacts everyone who loves, cares, I am changing the things I This behavior is racist and reckless. It and depends on them.  cannot accept.

8 Prison Covid News cess to speedy trials, while the jail has not even implemented social distancing mea- THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS INSIDE sures and new detainees are only quaran- PRISONS WON’T STAY BEHIND BARS tined for seven days upon entry to the Jail. By hunger striking, these pre-trial detain- Federal offi cials recognized the danger of the spread of ees hope their actions will bring attention coronavirus in prisons early, but have dragged their feet to the faults of the jail and those the lawsuit releasing at-risk inmates was fi led against: Governor Kate Brown, Lane County Circuit Court Judge Charles By The New York Times Editorial Board facilities do not make their testing numbers Zennache, Lane County Sheriff Cliff Har- he situation inside the nation’s jails public. rold. and prisons amid the Covid-19 Inmates are scared and desperate, and Since fi ling the lawsuit, detainee Bryan Tpandemic has become the stuff of tensions occasionally boil over. In April, MacDonald has experienced threatening nightmares. Overcrowding, unsanitary more than 100 inmates at a prison in Wash- and occasionally violent behavior from law conditions, shortages of personal protec- ington State protested after six inmates enforcement offi cials within the Jail and tive equipment (not to mention soap) and tested positive for the virus, and a smaller has been placed in solitary-confi nement for restrictions on hygiene products such as uprising occurred at a Kansas facility after 21 hours a day. Jail offi cials are aware of hand sanitizer have turned detention facili- more than two dozen inmates and staff ers Bryan’s and the three other detainees hun- ties into a playground for the virus and a tested positive. ger strike but are not checking their vitals. death trap for inmates — many of whom, Lawmakers are correct that the system Concerned community members can call because of age or pre-existing conditions, cries out for reform. But the current crisis the Jail at (541) 682-4263 to demand that are at elevated risk for complications. And was born of both policy shortcomings and they check striking detainees’ vitals, as the threat extends far beyond the facilities a widespread failure of implementation, well as release at-risk inmates, reduce the themselves, endangering the families and not to mention general dysfunction. As population of the jail to ensure social dis- communities that surround prison guards, detailed in a June report by the Marshall tancing can be followed, and return behind- nurses and other staff members. Project, federal prison offi cials have failed glass social visits as per the demands of the to protect inmates and the staff in numer- recently fi led motion.  ous ways. (State prison systems have their own share of horror stories.) The bureau has maintained that it’s doing its best in an NO NEW impossible situation. But closer scrutiny is clearly merited, and perhaps stricter over- WOMEN’S PRISON sight by Congress going forward. he Washington Department of Cor- America’s inmates have been sentenced rections is trying to expand the Ma- to pay their debt to society. That debt does Tple Lane facility in Grand Mound, not include falling victim to a lethal virus Washington into a new minimum security because of offi cial incompetence. The bu- women’s prison. Before its closure in 2011, reau’s response [to the virus] has been dys- the facility was a juvenile detention cen- functional to the point of cruelty.  ter. It is currently being used to “restore” people awaiting trial who the state deems “incomptetent.” This new women’s prison Currently, the nation’s top fi ve Covid-19 A Nation's Treaty Ignored is currently slated for 128 beds but could hot spots are all correctional facilities, ac- 2.2 Million US Slaves eventually hold 700 people. The Thurston cording to data collected by The Times. County Board of County Commissioners The number of infected inmates and work- “Neither nor involun- temporarily halted the construction of the ers has topped 70,000 — the count doubled tary servitude, except as a prison, but the Department of Corrections between mid-May and mid-June — and punishment for crime whereof plans to keep pushing for the prison expan- there have been at least 627 virus-related the party shall have been duly sion. Our collective -- No New Women’s deaths. convicted, shall exist within Prison -- has formed out of community Even these infection numbers are as- the United States, or any place concern about the project. We believe that sumed to be an undercount, since testing subject to their jurisdiction.” early release is the solution to overcrowd- for the virus remains inadequate and un- Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. ing in WA state prisons -- not prison expan- even. New York State has tested only about Constitution sion. We’re united around the values of an- 3 percent of its 40,000 inmates, and more “No one shall be held in slav- ti-racism, disability justice, and feminism. than 40 percent of those tested were con- ery or servitude; slavery … We’d love to hear from you! If you have fi rmed infected. In Mississippi, Alabama shall be prohibited in all their any questions or would like to be a part of and Illinois, fewer than 2.5 percent of state forms.” our organizing eff orts, send a letter to the prison inmates have been checked. Some Universal Declaration of following: 824 S Cloverdale St. Seattle, states, like Texas, have moved to ramp up Human Rights, Article 4, WA 98108 or Or on JPay at ashleen.ob- testing, and their reported cases are soar- a treaty the US is a signatory to. [email protected] ing. Further complicating the count, some

Volume 1, Number 3 9 Virus News ...... Continued from page 5 69 Dauphin County jail inmates facility over coronavirus protests have COVID-19, and mass testing Families who protested conditions at Alabama prison employee dies after has just started a Seattle work-release facility are accus- coronavirus diagnosis Sixty-nine inmates from three housing ing the state Department of Corrections of Alabama Department of Corrections an- units have tested positive along with 15 retaliating by sending six men at the facil- nounced late Thursday the staff member at staff members. Those who had symptoms ity back to prison. The six men had been Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women died after included elevated temperature or loss of housed at the Reynolds Work Release facil- a recent COVID-19 diagnosis. taste and smell. ity downtown, but had their work-release https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/ https://www.pennlive.com/ status revoked on what supporters describe story/news/2020/06/26/tutwiler-prison- news/2020/06/69-dauphin-county-jail- as bogus infractions, after a peaceful dem- employee-dies-after-alabama-coronavirus- inmates-have-covid-19-and-testing-has- onstration last month by family members diagnosis/3263499001/ just-started.html concerned about an outbreak of COV- ID-19. California governor grants clem- Over 200 inmates, almost 70 staff https://www.seattletimes.com/ ency to 21 prisoners as thousands members positive for COVID-19 in seattle-news/crime/department-of-cor- infected with Covid-19 Middle Georgia prisons rections-accused-of-retaliating-against- Advocates said the move was deeply in- The Georgia Department of Corrections inmates-at-seattle-work-release-facility- adequate given the scale of the Covid crisis, publishes the number of off enders who test over-coronavirus-protests/ which has infected more than 4,000 people positive for COVID-19 daily, and the num- in state prisons, leading to 20 deaths. The ber of prisoners in Middle Georgia prisons San Quentin: Covid-19 cases surge state announced more than 1,000 new cases who tested positive is currently at 202. The past 1,000 in the last two weeks, a surge that advo- number of staff who have tested positive is More than 900 of the over 1,000 cases cates and experts say was preventable and at 69. were diagnosed in last two weeks. Attor- is a result of the state’s negligence. https://wgxa.tv/news/local/over-200-in- neys say the outbreak can be traced to the https://www.theguardian.com/us- mates-almost-70-staff -members-positive- transfer of people between prisons. news/2020/jun/26/california-clemency- for-covid-19-in-middle-georgia-prisons https://www.theguardian.com/us- covid-19-governor-prisons news/2020/jun/29/san-quentin-coronavi- DOC accused of retaliating against rus-cases-covid-19 inmates at Seattle work-release

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