In the U.S., there are 2.3 million human beings in state, federal, and county jails and more than 42,000 in immigrant detainment camps (Wagner & Sawyer, 2020). Inmates are in dorm-like group units, usually four to five 50-person cells, and 100-person dormitories exist in some facilities. Social distancing is physically impossible in lower-security facilities. Every jail or prison sentence is a potential death sentence in a global pandemic.
We do not believe that anyone should be sentenced to death by mass incarceration in the middle of a pandemic. At the time of writing, there are 1,400 new infections and three deaths every day inside facilities nationwide. Data shows that 1 in 3 inmates are known to have the virus. In New Mexico, COVID-19 rates in prisons are 5x higher than the general population (Burkhalter, Colon, et al., 2021).
Testing in facilities is slow, and inmates are not given priority for vaccines. The majority of governors have refused to grant early leave to sick inmates. Most incarcerated people are doing time for non-violent crimes, with many in prison for petty crime and technical infractions, yet people awaiting court dates continue to be held on-site (Marshall Project, 2021).
COVID-19 positive prisoners quarantine in what correctional officers have termed “Death Pods.” Death pods are communal cells where prisoners are crammed together in squalor and unsanitary conditions despite being infected with the virus. They are given little to no personal protective equipment (PPE), and they have no access to healthcare. In one case, an N.M. detention facility forced women to clean their shared cell with menstrual pads (Alvez, 2020). Often, inmates who recover from COVID come out of the “Death Pods” with lingering or permanent chest pain, headaches, and asthma (Alvez, 2020).
Lack of access to healthcare, proper nutrition, basic hygiene, and human needs are not new to U.S. prisons. These conditions have existed for decades; they have only been compounded and highlighted by the pandemic.
We must take immediate action to safeguard incarcerated people and fight against a system that sees people’s lives as disposable. We must fight for the immediate release of inmates while maintaining the broader goal of fighting the corrupt and inhumane U.S prison system.