text: Filed under: Systemic Medical Neglect, COVID-19, Medical Neglect/Malpractice. Location: United States of America.
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  by Derek Gilna
  Health experts at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) agree that keeping people from coming in close contact with one another through social distancing is the most reliable method to stop the spread of COVID-19. So is the need to quarantine positive cases from the uninfected.
  However, the layout and general overcrowding of correctional facilities renders separation of prisoners a virtual impossibility. As a result, prisoners, many of whom come to jail with serious preexisting conditions, are four times more likely to contract the virus than those on the outside, and that ratio is likely to grow.
  Initially, several states and counties released many non-violent offenders and some prisoners with little time left on their sentences to drop population counts, often after prodding by state courts to do so. Nationwide, jail populations decreased from 738,400 in December 2018 to 575,952 in July 2020. However, recently, the welcome trend of decarceration appears to have stalled.
  The progression of COVID-19 has laid bare deficiencies in jail and prison health care, exposing its lack of availability and poor quality. It is no surprise that these deficiencies have taken, and will continue to take, a heavy toll on prisoner populations.
  In early December, U.S. jails and prisons had 276,235 confirmed cases of COVID-19, a month-old figure that probably constitutes a significant undercount. At least one in five U.S. prisoners has fallen ill, and 1,738 have died.
  Prison officials appear unable to stem the rising tide of illness and death.
  Of course, public health officials were caught unaware when the virus struck in early 2020, but by March and April, the scope of the prison problem became painfully apparent, and much of what was done to flatten the tide was insufficient and inadequate. Hundreds of federal prisoners fell ill and dozens died at Elkton, Oakdale, Terminal Island, and Lompoc, among others, prompting then-U.S. Attorney General Robert Barr to direct federal Bureau of Prisons officials to begin releasing older and medically vulnerable prisoners under the CARES Act. Federal prisons decreased their populations by less than 20,000, from 175,000 in March of 2020 to 157,000 five months later, but that process, too, had begun to slow.
  Unfortunately for the BOP, the hardest-hit facilities are those that house the most medically vulnerable, specifically, the federal medical centers of Butner, Devens, Carswell, Rochester, and Springfield, with dozens of prisoners ending up losing their lives, and even those who the BOP classifies as “recovered” suffering continuing symptoms with little medical intervention to ease their suffering.
  Lack of PPE
  Prisoners in all facilities have struggled with lack of personal protective equipment, inadequate cleaning supplies, hand sanitizer, and the inability of depleted medical staffs to respond in a timely fashion to sick calls or provide even simple medications to ease the suffering. Most outside medical visits have been canceled, which means that seriously ill individuals with medical appointments with outside specialists are not transported to receive treatment.
  The U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General has cited every federal prison that has experienced a serious outbreak for failure to properly prepare and execute proper procedures to curb the spread of COVID-19, which has also taken a serious toll on correctional officials. The resulting absences and resignations have only contributed to miserable conditions in jails and prisons, as prisoners struggle to deal with mental health issues from prison conditions, and the cancellation of family visitations. Overcrowded facilities mean that it is difficult to separate the sick from the healthy, except by housing them in gyms, special housing units, or in neighboring institutions that may have a high security level.
  Even when the institution has identified individuals who are ill, help often falls short in providing meaningful medical treatment. That is, until the individual is so ill that he or she must be transferred to an outside hospital on an emergency basis, generally to be intubated.
  The case of federal prisoner James Velez, imprisoned at Milan prison in Michigan, is all too typical. Velez, 61, who had several preexisting conditions, was ill for weeks, without any medical treatment, before he died.
  Survivors can feel hopeless in the face of such loss. They are unable to properly grieve the loss of their friends when they fear for their own lives. Indiana state prisoner Sarah Jo Parker spoke for many when she said: “Some of us wear masks even in our beds, but it feels futile. There is little to do except watch the infection spread and wait my turn to suffer.” She later tested positive for the virus as did hundreds of her fellow prisoners.
  Infection Rates Inside Higher Than Communities
  Jails and prisons, especially those with high prisoner turnover, are sources of disease spread in their communities. Cook County, Illinois Jail, with almost 400 infections at one time, was blamed for a rapid spread of the disease in its neighborhood, as guards who worked at the facility brought it back home. According to the Prison Policy Initiative (PPI), prisons and jails added more than 500,000 new COVID cases, 13 percent of cases nationwide. Nearly every prison system in the country has seen infection rates significantly higher than the communities around them.
  Although some states have successfully moved people out of prison by early releases, paroles and furloughs, there is a fear that growing prisoner counts in many states will allow COVID-19 to continue its march. November and December both showed significant increases infection levels in several states. As the pandemic continues into its second year, and people grow numb at rising infection and death levels, increases in prisoner counts are becoming more common. And as the threat of COVID transmission becomes a normalized reality, incarceration reductions are reversing. According to PPI, in the period from March to July of 2020, the majority of 514 jails had reduced the number of people behind bars by an average of 26 percent, but since July, however, 77 percent of these same jails saw increases. Even Cook County, Illinois, saw a higher prisoner count.
  A female prisoner at the Rockville state prison in Indiana perhaps summed up the feelings of many, saying, “The prison has essentially thrown up their hands and walked away from the problem for the moment. I am sure that they are working on a better solution (at least, we hope so),” she said. “But in the meantime, we see our neighbor get sick and we start worrying. Then they test positive, and we literally become trapped in the room with them. It’s like something out of a horror movie. In the beginning, I used to flippantly say that when the COVID finally comes here, the prison will just let us all get sick and die. I thought that I was just being dramatic, but it might have been more prescient than I know.”
  See: truthout.org, themarshallproject.org
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  More from this issue:
  The Way Prisoners Flag Guard Abuse, Inadequate Health Care and Unsanitary Conditions Is Broken, by Shannon Heffernan
  Collateral Consequences of Mass Incarceration, by Edward Lyon
  New York Parole System Badly in Need of Repair, by Kevin Bliss
  From the Editor, by Paul Wright
  Pandemic Update: News on Vaccines and Prison and Jail Staffing, by Michael D. Cohen, MD
  Urgent Need for Vaccine Administration in Prisons, Jails and Detention Centers, by Maya Chaudhuri, Aaron Littman, Sharon Dolovich
  Almost 300,000 Fell Ill and 2,000 Died from COVID-19 in U.S. Jails, Prisons, by Derek Gilna
  California Loses Round in Legal Fight to Deny Parole Based on Gang Affiliation, by David Reutter
  Was Indiana Women’s Prison Willfully Ignorant About COVID-19 Numbers?, by Matthew Clarke
  How a Private Prison Company’s Defamation Suit Against One of Its Critics Backfired, by Madison Pauley
  After $625,000 Settlement, Oregon Deputy Charged in Assault of Prisoner, by Mark Wilson
  Pinellas County, Florida Sheriff’s Office Sued in Federal Court for Treatment of Transgender Prisoner, by Derek Gilna
  Federal Judge Slaps ICE, GEO Group Over “Abominable Performance” and Officials Who Lied During Testimony, by David Reutter
  No Summary Judgment on Oregon Prisoner’s Retaliatory Termination Claim, by Mark Wilson
  Minnesota State and Federal Prisoners COVID Case Surge Sparks ACLU Lawsuit, by Derek Gilna
  Missouri Prisoner Pleaded for Release Before Dying of COVID-19, by Daniel A. Rosen
  Ninth Circuit Finds California Prisoner’s Administrative Remedies Effectively Unavailable, by Mark Wilson
  Fourth Circuit Holds Prisoner’s Indefinite Period of Solitary Confinement at Virginia Supermax May Amount to Atypical and Significant Hardship, by Matthew Clarke
  Federal Educational Aid Restored for State and Federal Prisoners, by Dale Chappell
  Progress Made in Fight Against Prison Gerrymandering But Battle Continues, by Douglas Ankney
  COVID-19: What Texas Must Do to Save Prisoners’ Lives, by Edward Lyon
  Ninth Circuit Reverses Lower Court’s Dismissal of California Prisoner’s Religious Freedom Lawsuit, by Mark Wilson
  Minnesota Prison Guard Fired for Excessive Force After Brawl Linked to Floyd Protests, by Anthony Accurso
  New Details Emerge on Senseless Death in a Milwaukee, Wisconsin Jail, by Jayson Hawkins
  $1.1 Million Settlement in Kentucky Jail Sex Abuse Suit, by David Reutter
  Justice Department Report Documents Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center’s Poor Response to COVID-19 Crisis, by Kevin Bliss
  Global Tel*Link Hit with Sanctions For Discovery Violations in Georgia Prison Call Class Action, by Derek Gilna
  Federal Judge in Georgia Grants Class Action Status to Prisoners’ Suit Against Global Tel*Link
  Fourth Circuit: ADA Relief Claims Improperly Dismissed in Virginia, by Mark Wilson
  Private Prison Companies Face Stock Crash, Credit Crunch, by Matthew Clarke
  Former BOP Director Norman Carlson, Who Developed Supermax Model, Dies at 86, by Kevin Bliss
  Arizona Pays Prisoners Pennies on the Dollar to Fight Fires, All in the Name of Saving Money, by Dale Chappell
  Mellon Foundation to Provide $5.25 Million in Program to Distribute Books to Prisoners, by Douglas Ankney
  Experts Find “Deplorable” Conditions at Mississippi’s Parchman Prison, by David Reutter
  ICE Refused Help in Containing Coronavirus in New Mexico Detention Centers, by Kevin Bliss
  Troubled Ohio Jail Faces Two More Lawsuits, by Matthew Clarke
  Pennsylvania Correctional Emergency Response Teams Face New Scrutiny in “Noose” Controversy, by Derek Gilna
  New Mexico Corrections Pays $1.4 Million to Settle Whistleblower Complaint Alleging Retaliation for Exposing Deficiencies in Corizon Medical Care, by Douglas Ankney
  Child Sexual Abuse: It’s Never Too Late to Speak Out, by Darrell Cochran
  No-Show Prison Workers Cost Mississippi Taxpayers Millions, by Alysia Santo, Joseph Neff
  Ninth Circuit Holds Intermediate Scrutiny Applies in Challenges to Facially Discriminatory Prison Regulations, by Matthew Clarke
  Overtime Payouts in California Prison System Approach $500 Million, by Daniel A. Rosen
  Florida State Prisons Scrub Key COVID Data From Website, Obscuring Magnitude of Inmate Deaths and Infections, by Laura Cassels
  Idaho Supreme Court Holds Prisoners Have No Right to Paid or Unpaid Employment, by Matthew Clarke
  Legislative Exemption Let Fired Alaska Cop Be Rehired as Jailer, by Edward Lyon
  Prisoners Paid $2 Per Hour to Move COVID-19 Corpses in El Paso, Texas, by Matthew Clarke
  NY Federal Court Denies Summary Judgment on Claims of Improper Medication Seizure, Evidence Fabrication, Improper Frisk During Prison Visit, by Matthew Clarke
  Minnesota Man Out of Prison After Being Exonerated of Murder, by Edward Lyon
  $4.65 Million Settlement for Florida Female Prisoner Left Quadriplegic After Brutal Beating by Guards, by David Reutter
  Federal Court Again Orders California DOC to Remedy Continuing ADA Violations, by Derek Gilna
  Decline in South Dakota State Prisoners Not Due to COVID, by Edward Lyon
  DOJ Report: Carceral Population Falls, 2017-2018, by Matthew Clarke
  COVID-19: The Politics of Prisoner Vaccination, by Kevin Bliss
  Sixth Circuit Affirms Tennessee DOC’s Hepatitis C Treatment Due to Lack of Funds, by David Reutter
  News in Brief
  More from Derek Gilna:
  Federal Judge in Louisiana Issues Sweeping Opinion Finding Numerous Eighth Amendment, ADA and RA Violations at Angola, April 1, 2022
  Human Rights Defense Center Prevails in Censorship Lawsuit Against Napa County Jail, California, Sept. 1, 2021
  California State Auditor’s Report Faults Counties for Waste and Poor Oversight of State Funds Used in “Public Safety Realignment”, Sept. 1, 2021
  The Fight Over Cellphones in Prisons Rages On, Sept. 1, 2021
  District Court Extends Armstrong Order to Five Additional California Prisons, Sept. 1, 2021
  HRDC Settles Censorship Lawsuit with Johnson County, Kansas Jail for $50,000 and Policy Changes, Aug. 1, 2021
  Virginia Prosecutors to Dismiss 400 Drug Convictions Tied to Disgraced Cop, July 15, 2021
  Discredited New York Police Detective’s False Testimony Causes the Dismissal of Close to 100 Drug Convictions, June 15, 2021
  D.C. Department of Forensic Sciences Firearms Examination Unit Under Fire, April 15, 2021
  Mississippi Joins Illinois and Few Other States Prioritizing Vaccination of State Prisoners to Slow Spread of COVID-19, April 1, 2021
  More from these topics:
  COVID-19 Injunction Lapses in Oregon, Another Fails in Massachusetts, Nov. 7, 2022. COVID-19, Injunctions.
  Rifles, Tasers and Jails: How Cities and States Spent Billions of COVID-19 Relief, Oct. 31, 2022. COVID-19, Cost of Prison Systems.
  $6,000 Sanction for Mississippi Federal Prosecutor Who Lied to Court About COVID-19 Vaccination Status, Oct. 31, 2022. COVID-19, Failure to Protect (General), Sanctions.
  Maine Settles Suit Over COVID-19 Jobless Benefits Seized From Prisoners, Oct. 31, 2022. COVID-19, Seizure of Prisoner Funds.
  $3.75 Million Settlement for Estate of Washington Prisoner Who Died From Untreated Breast Cancer, Sept. 30, 2022. Cancer, Failure to Treat, Settlements, Medical Neglect/Malpractice.
  $2.45 Million Paid by Wellpath and Macomb County, Michigan, After Detainee’s Withdrawal Death in Jail, Sept. 30, 2022. Drug/Alcohol Withdrawal, Private Contractors, Settlements, Medical Neglect/Malpractice.
  $7 Million Paid to California Detainee Left Quadriplegic Due to Jail Guards’ Alleged Negligence, Sept. 30, 2022. Guard Misconduct, Settlements, Medical Neglect/Malpractice.
  Ninth Circuit Vacates California’s COVID-19 Vaccination Mandate for Prison Employees, Sept. 30, 2022. COVID-19, Failure to Protect (General).
  $2.5 Million in Confiscated COVID-19 Relief Funds Returned to Arkansas Prisoners After Court Issues Injunction, Sept. 30, 2022. COVID-19, Seizure of Prisoner Funds.
  Mom Sues After She Was Forced to Give Birth to Doomed Baby in “Georgia’s Toughest Para-Military Jail”, Sept. 29, 2022. OB/GYN, Medical Neglect/Malpractice.