SJC Deliberates Release Of Prisoners To Stop Coronavirus Spread
BOSTON (CBS) -- The state's highest court continues to deliberate the release of hundreds of inmates amid the coronavirus pandemic. Justices heard arguments for five hours Tuesday.
Petitioners making their case via conference call, as the rapid spread of coronavirus shuttered trial courts across the state.
The emergency petition, filed last week by public defenders, argued that same threat in confined populations has the potential to be devastating. It called correctional facilities "Petri dishes for the rapid spread of infectious disease."
If approved, the plan would allow for the release of non-violent, pretrial detainees, inmates eligible for parole and prisoners considered vulnerable to the Coronavirus.
Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins said the proposal was the "humane thing to do." In a statement Tuesday, she added: "People do not stop being human the day they are sentenced. Although some have made terrible choices or engaged in reprehensible behavior, the sentence they received for their crime did not include contracting COVID-19 and death."
Attorney Susan Church said, "There's no sanitary stations in these jails, there's no ability to social distance. It's an extremely dangerous situation in our jails in Massachusetts."
The Cambridge-based immigration lawyer said the set-up not only exposes inmates but also people who work in the criminal justice system.
"They don't have personal protective gear. When I went to court [Monday] the guards weren't even wearing gloves and they were standing within one foot of the inmates. Inmates who have been in jails where the risk of coronavirus is incredibly strong," Church told WBZ-TV.
She is one of many advocates also pushing for immigration courts to close and the release of ICE detainees.
Last week, a complaint, filed in part by the Lawyers for Civil Rights, against ICE and the Bristol County Sheriff, alleges conditions within the Bristol County House of Corrections could put communities at risk.
"If people inside the Bristol County immigration detention facility have to be transported outside because they get sick, [and sent] to an outside hospital in Bristol. It will overwhelm the medical system," said Oren Nimni, an attorney for the group.
Critics of the plan maintain decarceration could mean the release of convicted criminals. In a letter to justices, district attorneys from at least seven counties said the "spontaneous release of offenders would endanger crime victims and the public."
