Judge rejects latest request to release prisoners due to COVID-19
By Laura Crimaldi Globe Staff,Updated February 18, 2021, 6:00 p.m.
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The North Central Correctional Institution in Gardner.Lane Turner/Globe Staff
ruling
that although conditions inside the facilities âcontinue to deprive inmates of basic needs,â the state hasnât violated constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment.
âThe Court fully understands the consequences of any lapses in preventing the spread of a virus that has killed at least 19 prison inmates and over 15,000 Massachusetts residents,â Suffolk Superior Court Judge Robert L. Ullmann wrote in his order. âHowever, these lapses reflect sporadic mistakes and sporadic lack of sufficient attention to detail, which is far below the standard of deliberate indifference necessary to establish a constitutional violation.â
Lawsuit On COVID Prison Releases Shows Many DOC Workers Refusing Vaccine wbur.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wbur.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
In December, Covid-19 infections in prisons in the United States hit a record 25,000 in one week. Among correctional staff that month, there were an additional 5,000 new infections a week, leading to spread in surrounding communities. According to a New York Times database, collectively, more than 580,000 people at correctional institutions have been infected. The prisoner death toll has now surpassed 2,000.
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Eleven months into the pandemic, the U.S. prison system has not gotten control of its rising caseload, which is likely still underestimated, according to The Marshall Project, a nonprofit journalism outlet focused on criminal justice issues. Doctors, attorneys, prison reform advocates, and public health researchers are increasingly concerned about one of the tactics that prisons are using to isolate symptomatic individuals: solitary confinement, the prolonged use of which is an intern
Though virus has torn through correctional facilities, most prison workers are declining vaccines
By Laura Crimaldi Globe Staff,Updated February 14, 2021, 5:04 p.m.
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An inmate is returned to his cell by a correctional officer at the Worcester County Jail and House of Corrections in West Boylston. Officials started administering COVID-19 coronavirus vaccines in Massachusetts correctional facilities in late January.David L. Ryan/Globe Staff
More than half of the employees in the Massachusetts Department of Correction have declined the stateâs offer to get the COVID-19 vaccine at work, even as the virus has wreaked havoc across the prison system, infecting roughly 900 workers and killing 21 inmates.
Little noticed law sets off court fight over stateâs responsibility to release inmates to reduce COVID risks
Lawyers for incarcerated people have begun seeking release of dozens of people
By Andrea Estes Globe Staff,Updated February 9, 2021, 6:02 p.m.
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Language quietly added to the state budget in November has given hope to Massachusetts prison inmates that they will be able to get out early to lessen their risk of getting COVID.
So far, the state Department of Correction has refused early release for any of the 6,500 prisoners to reduce the risk of COVID-19, which has sickened hundreds and killed more than 20 inmates. The only exceptions have been paroles granted to some gravely ill prisoners for conditions unrelated to the pandemic.