Businesses That Rely On Prison Labor Continuing To Make Profits As Inmates Forced To Work During Crisis
“The industry behind mass incarceration is bigger than many appreciate," said Bianca Tylek, of the New York-based advocacy group Worth Rises. “They exploit and abuse people with devastating consequences." Meanwhile, two youths in a LA juvenile detention facility test positive for COVID-19.
The Associated Press:
America's Business Of Prisons Thrives Even Amid A Pandemic
As factories and other businesses remain shuttered across America, people in prisons in at least 40 states continue going to work. Sometimes they earn pennies an hour, or nothing at all, making masks and hand sanitizer to help guard others from the coronavirus. Those same men and women have been cut off from family visits for weeks, but they get charged up to $25 for a 15-minute phone call — plus a surcharge every time they add credit. (McDowell and Mason, 5/8)
Los Angeles Times:
First Youths Test Positive For Coronavirus In L.A. County Juvenile Halls
Two youths in L.A. County juvenile detention tested positive for the novel coronavirus this week after officials began testing newly booked detainees, authorities said Thursday. The juveniles, both of whom are asymptomatic, have not been in contact with other youths, said Adam Wolfson, communications director for the L.A. County Probation Department. One was admitted to Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall in Sylmar, the other to Central Juvenie Hall in Los Angeles, Wolfson said. (Queally, 5/7)