Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Appeals Court Overturns Order To Release Vulnerable Inmates From Hard-Hit Ohio Prison
Politico: Appeals Court Nixes Order To Shrink Prison Rolls Because Of Virus
A divided federal appeals court has overturned a judge's order that required a federal prison in Ohio hard hit by the coronavirus to cut its inmate population by sending medically vulnerable prisoners home or to other prisons. A panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals split 2-1 as it struck down the lower court's order to thin the ranks at the Elkton Federal Correctional Institution in Lisbon, Ohio, after a Covid-19 outbreak there that has cost 19 lives. More than a quarter of the roughly 2,000 inmates at Elkton have tested positive for the virus. (Gerstein, 6/19)
KQED: As COVID-19 Surges Through Prisons, Guards And Inmates Sue
Massive — and lethal — outbreaks of the coronavirus have been surging through not only the Otay Mesa facility, but a number of state and federal prisons in California. As of Monday, 3,018 state prison inmates had tested positive for COVID-19, along with 408 employees of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The biggest outbreaks have been at Chuckawalla Valley State Prison, Avenal State Prison, the California Institution for Men and the California Institution for Women. And 12 inmates have died, all at the California Institution for Men in San Bernardino County, as well as one CDCR staff member. (Hendricks, 6/9)
