LIMIT DETENTIONS TO LIMIT CORONAVIRUS HOT SPOTS
California’s correctional facilities are fast becoming leading incubators of the novel coronavirus. As The San Diego Union Tribune reported, in Otay Mesa Detention Center, which has already seen scores of cases, some immigrant detainees are on a hunger strike over safety concerns. Having served as a prosecutor, I do not envy my former colleagues, as they must balance public safety threats from criminal activity with the threat of the virus. Fortunately, there are practical steps state and local leaders can take to protect communities from the virus, including safely reducing incarcerated populations.
Prisons, jails and detention centers are becoming leading hot spots for infection. In New York, the Wall Street Journal found that the Rikers Island jail has become ground zero for the coronavirus infections. The New York Times has identified the Cook County jail as the epicenter of the coronavirus cases in Chicago.
There is no question as to why the virus is exploding in these facilities. Incarcerated people and officers are moving in tight quarters, with often limited cleaning materials and no personal protective equipment, breathing the same air and touching the same surfaces. Then officers go back home every shift change. A recent modeling study from the University of Tennessee shows that correctional facilities have a powerful impact on the overall spread of the coronavirus through society.
The best way to reduce the risk is to reduce the incarcerated population. California is ahead of the curve on this issue. The California Judicial Council issued an order to stop jails from holding people whose cases have not yet been heard and who cannot afford bail for misdemeanors and lower-level felonies. Since the majority of people in jail are being held pretrial for inability to pay bail, as a recent Human Rights Watch report found, this order can lead to the safe removal of a significant percentage of the jail population.
Unfortunately, some sheriffs and district attorneys are refusing to follow the order. San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson released a video claiming that obeying the order would create a grave public safety threat. He is running against public opinion — recent polls from Data for Progress show that Californians want local law enforcement to take stronger action to slow the virus by reducing incarcerated populations. We need the council’s order to prevent our jails from becoming epicenters of infection, as in Chicago and New York.
In addition to lowering the local jail population, there are common-sense opportunities to slow the virus by reducing the state prison population. Gov. Gavin Newsom has already sped up prison releases that were already slated to happen within the next two months. The Los Angeles Times reported a federal judge’s suggestion that California could make a massive dent in spreading the coronavirus by
speeding up the next six months of prison releases. The governor should also consider more commutations for people given counterproductively long sentences during past “tough on crime” decades. As the Marshall Project reports, most people become significantly less likely to engage in crime as they reach their 40s — and they also face a greater risk from the coronavirus and the disease it can cause, COVID-19.
As we reduce the incarcerated population, we need to take some of the money we save and invest it in re-entry services. Keeping people behind bars is incredibly expensive. According to an Urban Institute study, every $1 spent to make sure someone successfully reintegrates into society can save up to $7 on long-term incarceration costs. The Public Policy Institute of
California notes that crime rates are at record lows. By supporting re-entry now, we can invest in keeping crime low for the future.
Finally, we must prevent the virus from spreading like wildfire through immigration detention. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) could safely release most detainees, who have committed no real crime beyond their immigration status. Many are held for being poor — they could go home to their families if they could afford to pay bond. Yet while the rest of our state is reducing incarcerated populations, according to the Desert Sun, ICE is trying to open new detention centers. State officials need to stand up for public health. Just as Newsom’s office has stopped transfers from jails to state prisons, we need to bar transfers to ICE custody.
As a former prosecutor, I know that many people behind bars do not pose a threat to public safety. Our state officials can significantly reduce our incarcerated population if they consider the tremendous risk of our correctional facilities becoming hot spots for transmission of the coronavirus. We must take a stand to protect our officers on the front lines, their families and our communities as a whole.
was a deputy district attorney in San Diego County, where he is still a resident. He is a speaker for the Law Enforcement Action Partnership (LEAP), a nonprofit group of prosecutors, police, judges and other law enforcement officials working to make changes in the criminal justice system.