Yesterday, we asked that advocates sign on letters from both criminal justice reform and disability rights groups, both of which included calls for a reversal of state policy to disqualify people living with ‘significant mental illnesses’ from early prison releases in the wake of the growing spread of COVID-19 in our state prisons.
Later in the day, prisoners’ rights group were notified by the Attorney General’s office that the NYS “DOCCS (the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision) is removing the ‘significant mental illness’ disqualifier from the review criteria [for people held on alleged parole violations] and are re-reviewing all parolees who were previously disqualified to confirm whether any of them now qualify for release based on that change.”
Thanks so much for all of the work that’s been done on this over the past few months and the actions many of you took yesterday.
In the disability rights letter, we also called on the state to take action to see that both inmates and correctional officers are provided with masks and PPE. See the article below detailing how several Hudson Valley legislators are directly calling on DOCCS to see that these steps are taken now.
—————
NY Lawmakers From Hudson Valley Urge Masks For State Prison Inmates
By Paul Kirby Kingston Freeman April 23, 2020
Three New York lawmakers from the Hudson Valley say inmates in state prisons should be given protective face masks to reduce the risk of contracting the coronavirus.
State Sen. Jen Metzger, D-Rosendale, Assemblyman Jonathan Jacobson, D-City of Newburgh, and Assemblywoman Sandy Galef, D-Ossining, urged the distribution of masks in a letter to Anthony Annucci, the acting commissioner of the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS).
The letter says more than 600 corrections officers and about 200 inmates in the state’s prisons have tested positive for COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus.
According to DOCCS, there were 211 confirmed cases of the coronavirus among New York state prison inmates as of 3 p.m. Monday, and five deaths, including one at the Otisville Correctional Facility in Orange County. Fifty-seven of the infected inmates have recovered, DOCCS said.
Metzger sent a similar letter earlier to Annucci in March, and he announced a short time later that state prison employees could wear masks while on duty if they chose, reversing an earlier ban of the practice.
Regarding the new request, Metzger said in a prepared statement: “As the representative of seven correctional facilities under state jurisdiction, I am deeply concerned about the spread of COVID-19 in such close quarters. After calling and writing the DOCCS acting commissioner urging him to address these concerns nearly three weeks ago, I was glad to see that the department dropped the prohibition against employees wearing masks, but it’s long overdue that everyone — employees and inmates alike — be equipped with, and wear, the protections needed for their safety, and the safety of employees’ families and the surrounding community.”
Metzger’s office noted in a press release that Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order last week directing all New Yorkers to wear face coverings when social distancing is not an option. “Correctional facilities are designed to confine inmates in close quarters with numerous shared facilities and communal areas, making social distancing difficult and leaving inmates and staff vulnerable to an asymptomatically transmittable virus such as COVID-19,” the release states.
Jacobson said providing masks to inmates will ensure protection for all people in state prisons.
“The only way that prisons can be safe is if both correctional officers and inmates have masks and social distancing is practiced by all,” Jacobson said in a prepared statement. Also, he said, “those infected must be separated from the rest of the prison population. We can’t have prisoners infecting correction officers or vice-versa.”
Galef said wearing masks “is a simple and effective way to slow the infection rate of COVID-19. The growing number of correctional officers and inmates that are now sick throughout the state is a real concern. I believe that compulsory mask-wearing would help tremendously in slowing the spread of this deadly virus.”
The information provided by DOCCS on Monday showed there were 91 confirmed cases of the coronavirus at state prisons in the Mid-Hudson Valley: 46 at Fishkill, 18 at Green Haven, eight at Shawangunk, eight at Otisville, seven at Eastern, and one each at Ulster, Wallkill, Coxsackie and Downstate.
DOCCS also said 83 inmates statewide have tested negative for the virus and that the results of another 56 tests are pending.