a room full of people with no way of social distancing: how COVID-19 is affecting prisons
The government has advised us to stay six feet away from people at all times and in Illinois and other COVID-19 hubs, to stay home with the exception of essential trips elsewhere (grocery stores, medical treatment, etc…). The clear message from the government is that people need to resist contact with others. But what does this mean for incarcerated people? How can they practice social distancing and healthy living conditions while under their state’s respective Department of Correction? There’s a short answer to this question: they can’t. However, activists across the nation have put pressure on government officials to allow more sanitary living conditions and to release incarcerated people.
What has Illinois done?
A group of civil rights attorneys and community activists filed a class action lawsuit against Governor J.B. Prtizker and IDOC (Illinois Department of Correction) to release prisoners. The suit explains that as many as 13,000 prisoners could be eligible for release based on low-level convictions (class 2-4), old age, medical vulnerabilities, or almost complete sentences. The most recent report from IDOC states that 86 staff members and 134 incarcerated individuals have tested positive for COVID-19. These numbers could, realistically, be much higher due to the inevitable contact between people within prisons.
Constant contact with others is not the only risk which incarcerated people face; they do not have proper living conditions both physically and mentally. Up until a few weeks ago, hygiene products such as soap were only obtained through individual commissary trips. Incarcerated people normally have to buy their own soap with $14 they get from the state every month; they have to ration this money between food, soap, toothpaste, and other essential products. People can spend more money if they are lucky enough to have outside people funding their commissary, but they are still only allowed to go to the commissary one to two times a month. The amount they can spend at the commissary and the amount of times they are allowed to go have increased, yet the detrimental fines have remained. Survived + Punished along with other advocacy organizations are demanding that governors put a hold on commissary fines so incarcerated people can obtain essentials without as much worry. In addition, a few weeks ago, IDOC installed soap and hand sanitizer dispensers for incarcerated people to use free of charge. Unfortunately, they are on low supply and don’t actually have enough products for people to use to maintain proper hygiene- especially during a worldwide pandemic with no way of social distancing.
Being incarcerated affects people’s mental health greatly, and it does even more so when communication with loved ones and the outside world as a whole is limited or cut off. Seemingly, visitors are not allowed to come into prisons, so, already, people have less opportunities to talk to those they care about and get information about what’s going on outside. Another change IDOC has put into effect is the limited use of communal phones and tablets (used to send emails). This is another way in which people are unable to keep consistent correspondence with others. Some incarcerated individuals have tablets which they’ve bought from the commissary. These tablets allow them to send emails on their own schedule, so these lucky few are able to keep correspondence.
Possibly the most harmful action to incarcerated people’s mental health is their inability to educate themselves. Due to limited resources, the only information that they are receiving are news headlines about COVID-19. In other words, they are hearing stories of prisoners dying across the country and increasing mortality rates in general. They are not hearing positive information. They are scared. People held in IDOC were only informed about COVID-19 a multitude of weeks ago. They are not receiving proper information about the virus: symptoms and prevention techniques alike. Furthermore, they aren’t hearing much positivity about what’s going on. Even in the darkest of days, there is some light, but they don’t have the power to find it.
The class action lawsuit could alleviate some of these issues if and when incarcerated people are released. Pritzker has given the Director of IDOC the power to grant incarcerated individuals medical furlough, hopefully allowing for the release of more individuals. Medical furlough’s initial intentions are to give sick prisoners a fourteen day period to seek medical attention and leave the prison, potentially to be with loved ones. However, in the midst of COVID-19, the rules surrounding medical furlough have changed. Incarcerated individuals would be allowed to leave the prison and find safety in their home or a loved one’s home for the duration of the pandemic. They would have a parole officer or other system to ensure they do not flee.
Although this expansion of medical furlough is positive, it highlights a, quite literal, fatal flaw in the system. As is, people are only allowed to be released if they have a secured place to go to. Homeless people and those who cannot stay with loved ones, as is, cannot be granted medical furlough- even if they are the most in need. Thankfully, there are currently some advocacy organizations working to secure safe living places for people who need to be granted medical furlough and would otherwise not be allowed to.
With the potential release of thousands of incarcerated people, I continue to hear people say they don't want convicted felons roaming the streets once the pandemic is over. The obvious truth is that neither does the government. Medical furlough would only last until the pandemic calms down; people would have to go back to prison once conditions are safe again. So the argument that people don’t want to walk alongside convicted felons once the pandemic slows down is invalid.
The only way in which people would permanently be released from prison is through commutation. Lawyers have to file for incarcerated individuals' commutation and, if granted, people’s sentences would be changed to time served. The process of being granted commutation takes much longer and requires a more intense review process than medical furlough. Additionally, commutation does not promise immediate release; commutation can also mean a lower in someone's sentence. But in the situation of COVID-19, people being released forever are those who have their sentence shortened to time served. This is not common so far during the pandemic hysteria, but there has been a strong push for commutation across the nation.
The idea of sending people back to prison after spending weeks or months with loved ones in a more comfortable living space poses more issues. Is it inhumane to show people a taste of freedom only to take it away from them once again? Some say so. Others say they deserve it. This will be one of the many problems the government has to solve when COVID-19 is less of a threat.
How can we help?
Educate yourself! That is one of the most important things we can do right now. In a time when misinformation is so easily shared, make sure you do not fall victim to such practices. I’m sure a plethora of news channels constantly echo throughout your home, and you are constantly bombarded with social media posts, but a more intimate way to learn about what’s going on- specific to incarcerated people- is through webinars. The New York section of Survived + Punished hosts a zoom call every other Saturday from noon to one EST along with a variety of other zoom calls.
If you are motivated and infuriated (as I am), you can call and email your governor and demand action. Survived + Punished has published scripts of what people should say in their email; it’s as easy as copy and paste.
There are a variety of advocacy groups which are collecting money to support people’s commissary funds. Commissary funds are needed so people can buy basic necessities such as soap and toothpaste. The money also supports their line of communication; phone calls and emails in prison cost money! Because there are so many organizations hosting fundraisers for commissary funds, I suggest, if you're interested, that you surf the web a bit until you find a recipient whom you feel a connection to. Some organizations do not list their recipients but most do.