Advocates call for prison reform
Coalition urges officials to adopt ‘more transparent’ policies
A coalition of progressive criminal justice reform advocates called on state law enforcement officials Thursday to adopt “fairer, more transparent” policies that would reduce Florida’s incarcerated population and stop the spread of the new coronavirus in jails and prisons.
The demand from the “Freedom 4 Florida” campaign comes as the Florida Department of Corrections released data Thursday showing 167 inmates tested positive for COVID-19 at Liberty Correctional Institution Main Unit — the biggest outbreak so far at a facility — after a ramp up in testing.
Statewide, 507 inmates have tested positive, according to the agency, which incarcerates more than 94,000 people.
“With COVID-19 sweeping through jails and prisons across the U.S., mass incarceration means that millions of incarcerated men and women — many of whom have not been convicted of a crime — have essentially been sentenced to death,” said Scott Roberts, senior director of criminal justice campaigns for the national organization Color Of Change, in a statement. “This is the symptom of a justice system that uses outdated, discriminatory policies to cage Black and Brown people.”
Organizers from eight groups, including Dream Defenders, LatinoJustice and Organize Florida, will pressure state attorneys, sheriffs and judges running for election in 2020 to support ending policies they say disproportionately punish the poor and communities of color.
Among their goals: decriminalizing homelessness, low-level drug offenses and sex work; reducing pre-trial detention; ending local law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration officials; abolishing fees associated with conditional release; and eliminating court fines.
“The conditions inside of our jails are disproportionately and directly borne by people who are caged because they’re poor — because they’re victims of the war on poverty,” said Maya Ragsdale, an attorney with Dream Defenders. “Our legislators have created laws that criminalize nearly every action that people take to survive in a society that does not guarantee a living wage, that does not guarantee health care and that does not guarantee housing.”
The coalition notes it will be the first major election since the passage of Amendment 4, which restored voting rights for an estimated 1.4 million former felons in Florida.
Rachel Gilmer, co-director of Dream Defenders, said the groups would be throwing their weight behind candidates and holding debates in races across the state, including a May 28 forum for the five contenders vying to replace Orange-Osceola State Attorney Aramis Ayala, who is not running for a second term.
The coalition also wants prose