Social Justice Groups Call For Action Re COVID-19 Jail Threat

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma Policy Institute, ACLU and seven other social justice organizations today urged officials to take immediate action to combat the threat of a major COVID-19 outbreak in the state’s correctional facilities.

In releasing the joint call, Ahniwake Rose, Executive Director of the Oklahoma Policy Institute said, “It’s a matter of public safety for our state and local officials to take urgent and active measures to manage the spread of COVID-19 within our prisons and jails. The policy solutions outlined here will help address the health and safety of those currently incarcerated, as well as provide vital steps to stem the tide of the coronavirus within the state.”

The group believes that overcrowded conditions combined with the higher rate of underlying health issues that incarcerated people experience and their lack of access to basic hygiene products make the state’s institutions especially susceptible during viral pandemics, a situation exacerbated by the absence of any statewide protocol for managing such an outbreak.

The release asserts, “Oklahoma incarcerates its citizens at one of the highest rates in the nation. The state’s prisons and jails have been strained for years with many facilities operating well over capacity. This presents a particular public health risk during the COVID-19 crisis. Incarcerated people have higher rates of underlying health issues than members of the general public, including higher rates of respiratory disease, heart disease, diabetes, and other conditions that suppress immune response.

“As the virus inevitably overtakes our jails and prisons, correctional officers, law enforcement and medical staff will end up risking their health and safety to an even greater degree, and vulnerable justice-involved Oklahomans will be put at greater risk. The close, overcrowded conditions and lack of access to hygiene products in prisons and jails make these institutions especially susceptible during viral pandemics.

“The absence of statewide protocols for all prisons and jails increases this risk. We urge Governor Stitt to issue an Executive Order to protect staff and inmates in our state’s jails and prisons and to enact the following recommendations to manage the serious threat of an outbreak of COVID-19 in Oklahoma Corrections and ultimately to the general public.”

Jacob Beaumont, speaking for the Mental Health Association of Oklahoma said, “There’s a pandemic at the gate of each and every correctional facility in Oklahoma this very minute, and it’s not a matter of if, but when it gets in.”

Beaumont urged state authorities to actively pursue “The release of the most vulnerable populations, taking measures to keep inmates connected with their families, and ensuring that staff are adequately equipped and compensated for the hazards they will face in the months to come.”

To that end the group list ten essentials for the state to urgently address :

• Identify those incarcerated who meet the requirements for compassionate or elderly release, including the immunocompromised, as well as those who are within six months of release from incarceration, and for those individuals consider either immediate release or an alternative such as home confinement, as long as that alternative is not cost prohibitive, nor requiring in-person contact that would put people’s health at risk. This process to also include anyone incarcerated for technical violations like missing a court payment or an assigned meeting.

• Identify and release anyone detained pretrial if their release would not constitute a threat of imminent harm to public safety. In addition, reduce the use of pretrial detention to focus wherever possible on cite and release.

• Replace all in-person meetings wherever possible with phone check-ins or other alternatives. No in-person contact (such as drug testing) to be conducted unless the risks to both the supervising officer and the supervised person are mitigated.

• Switch discretionary groups and programming, such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and grief support groups, to non-contact alternatives (phone, video, or online groups).

• Make hand sanitizer and soap available to all incarcerated at no cost. Remove hand sanitizer with alcohol from the contraband list and allow correctional staff to carry personal-sized hand sanitizer.

• Increase the cleaning frequency of all shared spaces within custodial facilities, including cells, and use cleaning solutions proven to kill the virus. Make sure phones are properly sanitized and cleaned before and after every use.

• Provide the number of testing kits required to meet the state health authority’s testing criteria. Prioritize testing of vulnerable populations and people with symptoms. Stop the use of solitary confinement and other punitive measures for quarantine or isolation purposes. Remove all barriers to testing such as copays or prescription costs.

• No one should be incarcerated past their release date, even if quarantine is warranted. Individuals who are isolated for mild symptoms or quarantined as a precaution should be released with a plan for self-quarantine, and both the supervision department and the local health department should be notified to ensure appropriate accommodations are in place.

• Suspend incarceration for a failure to pay court fines and fees as well as all failure to pay arrest warrants for the duration of the crisis. Courts should also suspend the collection and accrual of fines and fees at least until non-essential employees are safe to return to work.

• In facilities where physical visitation is suspended, ensure the incarcerated have full access to non-contact legal visitation. In addition, phone calls, video visitation, and electronic communication for all types of visits (family, non-legal professional visits, legal visits where noncontact visits are not accommodated etc) must be made available without fees.

Jacquline Blocker, Engagement Director for Oklahomans for Criminal Justice Reform commented that, “COVID-19 shines a light on a justice system that continues to leave some of our most vulnerable Oklahomans behind. The mass incarceration crisis is a public health crisis. The current trend strongly indicates that an outbreak in our jail or prisons will increase the spread into our communities and overwhelm our healthcare system.”

Nicole McAfee, Director of Policy and Advocacy with the ACLU of Oklahoma added, “We cannot predict what will happen in the coming days and weeks with COVID-19 in Oklahoma, but we can plan for it. Taking steps to plan and implement protections of rights and liberties during prevention, containment, and treatment means better outcomes for the health of justice in our state.”

Several states have already begun the process of implementing early release and allied decarceration policies. Oklahoma remains the highest per capita jail population in the world.

The groups issuing today’s joint call were: Americans for Prosperity, Still She Rises, Oklahomans for Criminal Justice Reform, ACLU Oklahoma, Mental Health Association of Oklahoma, Oklahoma Women’s Coalition, Oklahoma Policy Institute, Center for Employment Opportunities, and The Oklahoma Conference of Churches.

The statement can be read in full at : https://okpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/Joint-Statement-COVID19-in-Oklahoma-Prisons-Jails-FINAL.pdf

Patch reached out to both the Governor’s office and the Board of Corrections for a response to the group’s release.

Concurrently the Department of Corrections announced this afternoon that Keefe Group, a state vendor, would donate 25,000 bars of antibacterial soap to the department. The bars will be issued to all incarcerated persons free of charge, a significant change in Corrections policy and in line with the group's call.

In a separate development the Department of Corrections today announced the cancellation of the next Board of Corrections meeting. The meeting had been scheduled for April 15th at the Joseph Harp Correctional Center, Lexington. Word was not immediately available as to why the meeting was not being switched to an electronic event. The next scheduled meeting is now May 13th at the Board offices in Oklahoma City.