The Crime Report (https://thecrimereport.org/author/stephenh/)
Attorney General William Barr wants to speed the process of sending selected inmates at prisons in Danbury, Ct., Oakdale, La., and Elkton, Oh., to home confinement because of the danger that serious levels of infection pose to elderly prisoners and those with pre-existing health conditions.
A telecom-industry task force, led by trade association USTelecom, said it identified and cut off a barrage of virus-related calls it suspected were phony, with help from federal agencies.
Louisiana Attorney General warned of a potential “crime wave” if state prisoners were freed during the pandemic. State Supreme Court Chief Justice Bernette Johnson urged minimizing jail populations to prevent a “potentially catastrophic” virus outbreak.
Inmates and officers across the state prison system cited a shortage of sanitizing products and lax policies at some prisons that still allowed inmates to play basketball and forced them to eat in close quarters.
The Justice Department has directed all 94 U.S. Attorneys to appoint a coordinator for all virus-fraud cases, raising the prospect that those who threatened or attempted to spread the virus could be charged with federal terrorism offenses as the virus could be classified as a biological agent.
Addiction treatment clinics are expanding hours, hiring staff to take people’s temperatures, providing home delivery and curbside pickup for medication, and revamping procedures to limit human contact.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duerte ordered police to shoot anyone who “causes commotion.” Australian authorities threatened people sitting alone drinking coffee.
As parole dates are advanced and inmates tear shirts and socks to make masks, federal judges are weighing whether California must take larger, more drastic steps to avert the spread of COVID-19 in its teeming prisons.
The REFORM Alliance, the advocacy group founded by rappers Meek Mill and Jay-Z, will send surgical masks to New York City’s Rikers Island jail complex and other prisons in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus among inmates.
President Donald Trump on Friday nominated Justin Walker, who the American Bar Association deemed not qualified to serve on the federal bench, to the influential U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Walker is an ally of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.