The Crime Report (https://thecrimereport.org/category/corrections/prison-writing/)
When worries about the spread of COVID-19 in prison began to surface, Texas corrections authorities ordered common areas to be sprayed with chlorine bleach. But when prison wardens couldn’t find any, they came up with a surprising alternative, recalls a Texas inmate.
This spring, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee suspended time limits on post-conviction appeals filed by prisoners, citing the special circumstances of the pandemic. Now it’s up to the state supreme court to decide whether that included cases concluded before the outbreak—and the outlook is uncertain, writes a Washington state inmate.
An anti-terrorism measure passed by Congress in 1996 to block some defendants seeking to overturn their convictions has proved as fatal as the maneuver used against George Floyd, writes a Texas inmate. It’s called the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act.
With national recidivism rates hovering above 80 percent, successful reintegration seems an elusive goal. Why can’t communities recognize those who achieve it with a “certificate of acceptance?,” suggests an inmate in Washington State.
Everyone agrees that inmates and corrections officers alike should protect themselves with masks and other precautions against the spread of coronavirus. But it doesn’t always work that way.
Correctional facilities around the U.S. have experienced unrest among inmates angry over what they perceive is a lack of concern for their safety. A Washington state inmate says the pandemic exposes society’s deep-rooted fears and prejudices towards the incarcerated.
The national health crisis has put prisoners and correctional officers equally at risk. That offers a rare opportunity to work together for everyone’s safety—even if it means rethinking traditional security concerns, writes a Washington state inmate.
The solution is simple, writes a Washington State inmate: Provide humane facilities for isolation so prisoners won’t dread reporting when they show symptoms.
Prisoners in Washington State have filed a lawsuit against Gov. Jay Inslee and state corrections chief Steven Sinclair asking for the release of elderly inmates to halt the spread of the coronavirus. This and similar actions elsewhere are adding long-needed momentum to the movement to reduce mass incarceration, writes an inmate.
When an employee at the Monroe Correctional Complex in Washington state tested positive for COVID-19, prison administrators swiftly instituted safety precautions. An inmate reports that the measures have left the entire facility bracing for the worst.