Published December 25, 2020 •
Updated on December 25, 2020 at 10:39 pm
Getty Images
Here s a look at coronavirus developments in New England:
MASSACHUSETTS
Prisoner advocates in Massachusetts are redoubling their legal efforts to release inmates from state prisons because of the coronavirus pandemic. Prisoners Legal Services of Massachusetts argued in a Suffolk Superior Court filing Thursday that the state Department of Correction needs to release inmates to home confinement, furlough, medical parole and other legal measures so that the remaining prisoners can safely socially distance behind bars.
The organization submitted accounts from roughly 40 inmates about crowded conditions in state prisons and their fears of contracting COVID-19 to bolster their appeal. Prisoners Legal Services also said four prisons MCI-Norfolk, MCI-Shirley, NCCI Gardner and MCI Concord account for nearly all of the more than 1,000 new cases of the virus in the correctional system since O
Rhode Island inmate dies of virus; Mass inmates keep pushing for release thewesterlysun.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thewesterlysun.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Push on to release Mass. inmates; Vermonters to track vaccinations
Maxi Kolb, an exchange student from Germany, takes a photo of a group of Santas and elves getting ready for their annual Christmas morning run on Main Street in Auburn, Maine, on Friday, Dec. 25, 2020. The group gets together every Christmas morning and runs a loop through Lewiston and Auburn. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal via AP)
Published December 25. 2020 11:57PM
BOSTON (AP) A look at coronavirus developments in New England:
MASSACHUSETTS
Prisoner advocates in Massachusetts are redoubling their legal efforts to release inmates from state prisons because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Prisoners’ Legal Services of Massachusetts argued in a Suffolk Superior Court filing Thursday that the state Department of Correction needs to release inmates to home confinement, furlough, medical parole and other legal measures so that the remaining prisoners can safely socially distance behind bars.
Advocates ask court to release inmates as COVID-19 sweeps through state prisons
Prisoner health conditions âworse now than at any time since the pandemic beganâ
By Laura Crimaldi Globe Staff,Updated December 24, 2020, 1:17 p.m.
Email to a Friend
A view of MCI-Norfolk.Meredith Nierman/WGBH News
One of every six Massachusetts prison inmates â and hundreds of correctional workers â have tested positive for COVID-19 in the last six weeks, new figures show, underscoring prisonersâ vulnerability and spurring new efforts to free some of them.
Late Wednesday, lawyers in a class-action lawsuit against the Department of Correction made a dramatic plea in court filings to reduce the inmate population, sharing