Why would state prison inmates turn down an offer for early release during pandemic?
The stunning choice in the face of a growing coronavirus outbreak flummoxed corrections staff
Updated on Dec 20, 2020;
Published on Dec 20, 2020
Jeffery Lawson is one of two state inmates who turned down Gov. Kate Brown s offer of a commuted sentence to reduce prison populations during the pandemic. Oregon Department of Corrections
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At first Jeffery Lawson couldn’t believe his good luck. The governor had stamped his get-out-of-jail-free card.
But over the following days, his thrill turned into a reality check.
He thought about his miserable, yearslong addiction to methamphetamine and heroin and how it had wrecked his family ties and cycled him in and out of prison.
December 17 2020
One in 6 inmates at Deer Ridge Correctional Institution and 1 in 10 workers have active cases of novel coronavirus.
A surge in COVID cases has infected more than one in every six inmates at the Deer Ridge Correctional Institution east of Madras. The influx of cases began Dec. 1. Out of 675 inmates at DRCI, 110 have tested positive for the coronavirus. Out of 200 employees, 26 have tested positive, an infection rate of more than one in 10.
The current number of active cases at Deer Ridge far surpasses the active cases at any other prison in Oregon. All other prisons in Oregon combined have 67 cases. Most prisons have no cases, some have two or three. The Columbia River Correctional Institution comes the closest with 39 COVID cases.
December 16 2020
Nearly 1 in 6 inmates at DRCI and 1 in 10 workers have active cases at Madras correctional institution
A surge in COVID cases has infected more than one in every six inmates at the Deer Ridge Correctional Institution east of Madras. The influx of cases began Dec. 1. Out of 675 inmates at DRCI, 110 have tested positive for the coronavirus. Out of 200 employees, 26 have tested positive, an infection rate of more than one in 10.
The current number of active cases at Deer Ridge far surpasses the active cases at any other prison in Oregon. All other prisons in Oregon combined have 67 cases. Most prisons have no cases, some have two or three. The Columbia River Correctional Institution comes the closest with 39 COVID cases.
SALEM â Oregon Gov. Kate Brown is set to commute the sentences of approximately 130 Oregon prison inmates this week. Some are at high risk for COVID-19 while others are being released to create more space in the stateâs prisons. The inmates are expected to be released from prisons Thursday, Dec. 17.
At the beginning of the month, Brown said inmates with six months left on their sentences and who meet certain criteria are eligible for having their sentences commuted. Previously, only inmates with two months left on their sentences were eligible.
State officials could not immediately confirm an exact figure on the latest round of releases Dec. 14.