MAJR resources on COVID-19 in Md. state prisons and jails – May 15, 2020
Prisons and jails (“detention centers” in Maryland terminology) are dangerously difficult for the kind of “social distancing” and “personal protective equipment” needed to minimize COVID-19 risks: Jail cells, communal bathrooms, cafeteria, and other facilities are designed to hold large numbers of prisoners in comparatively confined spaces.
Making matters worse, correctional officers and staff can’t shelter in place, but daily come and go from their home communities – including COVID hot spots and at risk populations. Adequate medical care, testing, and protective equipment clearly should be provided; according to reports from inside this is not happening.
The problem particularly is acute for older prisoners with medical problems whose likelihood of death, if infected, is greatest. Ironically, it is well-documented in Maryland that the older and more medically-challenged a prisoner is, the smaller the danger they present to the public from new offenses.
To protect the health and lives of prisoners the first step should involve reducing the population by a sufficient percent to permit social distancing. Judges don’t have the legal right to review and order releases for inmates sentenced more than 5 years ago, regardless of how deserving or medically appropriate.
Some local jails have begun appropriate action to reduce their populations to a safe level. (See your county jail’s population efforts here.) Action to safeguard Maryland’s prisons, therefore, can come only from the Governor—or the Parole Commission and Corrections administrators acting at his direction.
Please contact the Governor’s office TODAY and urge him to use his discretion to reduce Maryland’s prison populations to safer levels by clemency, furlough or expedited parole of prisoners. These should include:
- those with nonviolent convictions,
- those who are age 60 or over, and
- those with medical conditions making them at risk for COVID-death but not a danger to the community.
More about COVID-19 in the News:
As pandemic eases, share of Black inmates in Maryland prisons peaks - Maryland Matters
As pandemic eases, share of Black inmates in Maryland prisons peaks - Maryland Matters
www.marylandmatters.org
'The liquor store was open during COVID, but not the reentry programs,' an advocate notes.Comment on Facebook 'The liquor store ...
The coronavirus pandemic caused a historic drop in Maryland’s prison population. But after the state of emergency ended and prisons filled again, the share of Black incarcerated people reached a five-year-high late last year, a Capital News Service data analysis has found.
Expanding access to discretionary parole won’t by itself end mass incarceration; however, expanding its usage in conjunction with presumptive parole while eliminating undermining carveouts could be a powerful tool for decarceration.
No Release: Parole grant rates have plummeted in most states since the pandemic started
www.prisonpolicy.org
Among the 26 states we surveyed, only 6 saw an increase in parole approval rate, and almost every state held substantially fewer hearings than in ...
