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COVID-19 built new walls that further isolated Oklahoma’s prisoners from the rest of the world.
It started last March. The Department of Corrections turned away visitors. Prisoners began losing access to outdoor space and they could no longer go to classes and common areas. The changes were safety precautions.
Se’Nae Starnes has young children and before the pandemic she was already limited to seeing them on the weekends. She says when COVID-19 hit even that was taken away.
“Like, my daughter especially, she’s not able to write and read and be able to communicate that way,” Starnes said. “So we have to be creative and draw pictures because we weren’t always able to get to the phone.”
Inmate families protest as COVID-19 spreads in state prisons By: Keaton Ross Oklahoma Watch December 15, 2020
Diedre Adams holds a sign for her son during a protest outside the Department of Corrections’ Oklahoma City headquarters on Dec. 11. (Photo by Whitney Bryen/Oklahoma Watch)
An upset prison guard walked into Stephanie Avery’s housing unit.
Avery, a former Mabel Bassett Correctional Center inmate, says the officer pulled her mask below the chin, approached a group of women and shouted “I don’t care if you get sick.”
Weeks later, Avery and 112 other women housed at the prison tested positive for COVID-19 in mid-August. Though her symptoms were mild, Avery says a few women on her pod had trouble breathing and were hospitalized.
By Keaton Ross | Oklahoma Watch Dec 15, 2020
Dec 15, 2020
Diedre Adams holds a sign for her son during a protest outside the Department of Corrections Oklahoma City headquarters on Dec. 11, 2020. Whitney Bryen/Oklahoma Watch
An upset prison guard walked into Stephanie Averyâs housing unit.
Avery, a former Mabel Bassett Correctional Center inmate, says the officer pulled her mask below the chin, approached a group of women and shouted âI donât care if you get sick.â
Weeks later, Avery and 112 other women housed at the prison tested positive for COVID-19 in mid-August. Though her symptoms were mild, Avery says a few women on her pod had trouble breathing and were hospitalized.