‘They Acted Late’: While Virus Spread Throughout This Prison, Actions Taken Were Scattershot, Too Slow
Stat reports on how a slow public health response led to spread of the coronavirus in an east of Los Angeles prison, which has reported 767 cases and 13 deaths so far. News on prisons is reported from Pennsylvania, as well.
Stat:
How A Piecemeal Covid-19 Response In One Prison Fueled A Fatal Outbreak
Roderick Keith Dirden has been trying for months to get out of an overcrowded dormitory at the California Institution for Men, where he has been in intermittent lockdown since Covid-19 started sweeping through the prison. “I’m not looking for somebody to jump out of a parachute to save me,” he said in a phone interview with STAT. He’s simply looking, he said, for the system to keep inmates safe. (Guo, 6/12)
PA Post and Philadelphia Inquirer:
Why Gov. Tom Wolf’s Big Effort To Grant Coronavirus Reprieves To Pa. Inmates Came Up Small
In April, amid growing fear that prisons could be tinderboxes for the coronavirus, Gov. Tom Wolf announced he would grant temporary reprieves to certain nonviolent state inmates who have medical conditions that make them particularly vulnerable.It was a power move by Wolf, who initially opted to wait for a plan from the GOP-led legislature, but reversed course after it became clear a bill would be limited to 450 people. At the time of the announcement, Wolf said, “There is a premium on speed here. We need to move quickly." (Jaafari and McKinney, 6/11)
