The state should ensure that the larger mission of rehabilitation does not take a backseat to COVID protocols.
I watched the debates over people’s rights during the COVID emergency from behind California prison walls. Here inside Ironwood State Prison, prisoners are afforded a narrow range of “rights,” which can be suspended to preserve institutional security.
Instead, COVID infiltrated the system, and prisoners had to contend with slow development of effective pandemic protocols. The first masks I received in March 2020, when I was at a level-four maximum security prison yard in the San Joaquin Valley, were made from the cloth used for our state-issued pants. Months passed before better masks became available. And while inmates were required to wear masks from the pandemic’s onset, months passed before usage by staff became uniform.
For inmates living in dorms, isolation is impossible. Cell blocks, like the ones where I’ve been housed, afford isolation but are no guarantee against catching COVID. I am in a cell block where practically every inmate got infected. I have met inmates who were infected multiple times . Statewide, more than 250 inmates have died from the disease.
Now, rehabilitative programs are still suspended for at least 14 days at any yard with a COVID outbreak, normally defined as three or more positive cases. Unfortunately, outbreaks often last at least a month. These disruptions are significant setbacks, especially for inmates hoping to parole with a GED, diploma, college degree or trade certification.
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