Pleas Mount for Release of Inmates at Risk of COVID-19
"The body count has begun," wrote three former U.S. Department of Justice high-level prosecutors in a New York Daily News column. They said that "thousands of Americans who live and work in our federal prisons are at grave risk from COVID-19, and their [federal] government is not moving quickly enough to protect them."
April 14, 2020 at 06:51 PM
4 minute read
The original version of this story was published on New York Law Journal
Broad and increasing calls for the release of federal and state inmates especially vulnerable to the rapid-fire COVID-19 outbreaks happening inside jails and prisons continued Tuesday, with three former federal prosecutors calling on President Donald Trump to take "bold" executive federal action "now," and New York's Legal Aid Society reaffirming its call for more measures.
In a New York Daily News column written by three former U.S. Department of Justice high-level prosecutors, the authors wrote that "thousands of Americans who live and work in our federal prisons are at grave risk from COVID-19, and their [federal] government is not moving quickly enough to protect them."
"The body count has begun," wrote co-authors Roy L. Austin Jr., Vanita Gupta and Miriam Aroni Krinsky. They added that "the first cases of COVID-19 in federal prisons were confirmed nearly four weeks ago," and since then "the virus has spread rapidly and at least 10 people have now died, with hundreds testing positive or showing symptoms."
Later in the detailed column, the authors specifically complained that "more proactive steps" are needed besides U.S. Attorney General William Barr's March 26 and April 3 memoranda.
In the author's view, "Barr suggests a complex process for considering home confinement for a small category of individuals—to be identified through an assessment tool many view as problematic and likely to perpetuate racial disparities." Moreover, they say, Barr "categorically excluded almost half of those over age 60 and delineates numerous hurdles with little guidance on who should go home and how fast."
The column's authors did note that "while Barr subsequently expanded potential release to individuals with COVID-19 risk factors, he did so only at facilities where COVID-19 is already 'materially impacting operations,'" As a result, they argued, "by the time a facility has an outbreak, it will be too late to save the most vulnerable individuals."
Barr's office could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Austin Jr., one of the authors, is now a partner at Harris, Wiltshire & Grannis and a former deputy assistant attorney general, assistant U.S. attorney and DOJ trial attorney. Gupta is the president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and the former head of the DOJ's Civil Rights Division. Krinsky is a former assistant U.S. attorney, former executive director of the Los Angeles Citizens' Commission on Jail Violence, and the executive director of Fair and Just Prosecution.
The three authors wrote in their column that "this inevitable tragedy" of additional deaths in federal prisons "is why we joined over 400 former DOJ officials, lawyers and federal judges—including 35 U.S. attorneys—who wrote President Trump [in March] urging him to commute sentences of elderly, medically vulnerable, or people near the end of their sentence, posing no serious safety risk."
"This would be the best way to address dangers posed by dense, unsanitary living conditions for the 175,000 people in federal custody. We know the crisis on the horizon; that's why we urged the president to act now to prevent more deaths," they added.
The Legal Aid Society, in a news release Tuesday, wrote that it was "demanding" the "immediate release" of more incarcerated New Yorkers—it and other advocacy groups have won the release of some through litigation—and said that its call was underscored by the death of Walter Ance, a client who passed away Saturday from COVID-19.
"We are heartbroken over the loss of Walter Ance, our client who was held pretrial at Rikers Island for roughly 13 months. Mr. Ance suffered from a litany of health issues, but despite these conditions and warnings from the city, the Queens County District Attorney's Office refused to consent to his release," said Tina Luongo, attorney-in-charge of Legal Aid's criminal defense practice. "Our continuing efforts were entirely ignored, and as a result, Mr. Ance died handcuffed to a bed."
Legal Aid also said that "demonstrating the rapid pace at which the virus spreads within carceral settings, in New York City, as of April 13, 2020, 323 incarcerated New Yorkers had tested positive for COVID-19."
The group said that "already, 7.8 percent of people incarcerated in City jails have contracted COVID-19, a percentage almost 6 times higher than New York City, 7.8 times higher than New York State, and 44.2 times higher than the rest of the country.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllLitigators of the Week: After a 74-Day Trial, Shook Fends Off Claims From Artist’s Heirs Against UMB Bank
An ‘Indiana Jones Moment’: Mayer Brown’s John Nadolenco and Kelly Kramer on the 10-Year Legal Saga of the Bahia Emerald
‘It's Your Funeral’: Avoiding Doing Damage to Your Client’s Case With Uncivil Behavior
Law Firms Mentioned
Trending Stories
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250