N.Y. prisons will begin releasing pregnant inmates
Discharges limited to women not convicted of violent felonies
State corrections officials, in response to the coronavirus pandemic, said they will begin releasing incarcerated women who are pregnant or postpartum, if they have not committed a violent felony or sex offense and are within six months of release.
“The department will conduct an individualized review and re-entry plan for each eligible person to ensure suitable housing and health care for these expectant and current mothers, as well as their children,” the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision stated.
Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, a women’s prison in Westchester County, has had 38 inmates test positive for COVID-19. One died and 23 others have recovered.
The decision by DOCCS to release pregnant inmates came after 40 New York legislators signed a letter sent to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo this week urging him and top state corrections officials to improve conditions in prisons and release more inmates whose poor health may put them at risk if they contract COVID-19.
The department Thursday listed that 211 of its more than 41,100 inmates are positive for the infectious disease, and that there have been 10 fatalities. More than 1,000 of the department’s 29,000 employees have tested positive, and two have died, the agency reported.
The figures from DOCCS place the rate of infection and deaths among inmates below the general population of New York.
But Dave George, associate director of Release Aging People in Prison Campaign, who helped organize the lawmakers’ letterwriting effort, said there is not enough testing of inmates to present an accurate assessment and that information they are receiving from inmates indicates it is a much more serious situation.
“Way more people have it than they are saying,” George said, noting that prison infrastructure makes it difficult to quarantine and contain the spread of the virus. “We are really, really scared … really nervous that that number jumps to hundreds, if not thousands . ... It’s going to hurt a lot of people if the governor doesn’t act swiftly.”
The letter’s signatories include Assembly Majority Leader Crystal People-stokes, Albany Assemblywoman Patricia Fahy, Manhattan Sen. Brad Hoylman and Queens Sen. Jessica Ramos.
“Deplorable, unsanitary and inhumane conditions in our state correctional facilities guarantee that the spread of coronavirus will be rapid and lethal,” the letter asserts. “Practices like frequent hand-washing, social distancing and self-quarantine are nearly impossible inside our prisons.”
Cuomo has resisted calls for him to grant clemencies although he has been pressured by inmate advocates to consider using that power to release inmates at higher risk of complications from infection, including those who are elderly, pregnant or that have compromised immune systems.
Inmate visitations were suspended in mid-march, when Cuomo’s administration announced that inmates would be provided with five free postage stamps per week, two free secure messages via electronic tablets, and one free telephone call.
The letter signed by the lawmakers says that’s not enough. They called on Cuomo to make virus testing and treatment more readily available to all inmates, end solitary confinement, and to provide inmates unlimited access to phone calls, emails and mail, among other measures.
DOCCS officials, in response to the pandemic, have taken steps to release parolees incarcerated on technical violations and granted early release to inmates age 55 and over who are within 90 days of release and do not pose a danger to the public.