LETTER FROM SAN FRANCISCO
They left Santa Rita prison, north of San Francisco, looking happy, carrying in their hands the traditional white plastic bag containing their personal belongings. An unexpected gift, this coronavirus, even if they are aware that they are exchanging a containment for another, the state governor Gavin Newsom having decided to place under residence the 40 million Californians exercising activities "Not essential".
This Thursday, March 19, a prisoner crosses the door every ten minutes. Four women hurtle down the ramp, hilarious in the face of this stroke of fate. The prison administration has decided to release 314 people from this prison, one of the largest in California with 2,600 inmates. These are short-term prisoners or have only 45 days to go behind bars. But also some of "Those we typically wouldn't have released"said Ray Kelly, the sheriff's spokesperson, for the CBS channel: murderers who have benefited from the fact that they suffer from chronic diseases, which multiplies the risks in the event of contamination.
For the past two weeks, the same scene has occurred in the United States in the localities most affected by the coronavirus. In Los Angeles, the prison population has been reduced by more than 600 people (out of a total of 17,076) and arrests have increased from 300 per day to 60. In Ohio, Kentucky, Texas, thousands of detainees elderly or suspects awaiting trial, have been sent home. It is a question of protecting the prisoners, often confined to two or three per cell, but also the guards, also exposed to overcrowding.
Already, personnel have tested positive in several states, resulting in the quarantine of hundreds of detainees. In New York, chief medical officer Ross MacDonald of Rikers Island prison, where some 20 prisoners and guards are infected, alerted the justice ministry. "We cannot impose social distancing on dozens of older men who live in dorms and share their toilets. Think of a cruise liner that would take on new passengers every day, he tweeted. Please let as many people out as possible. "
No alcoholic gel
In a country in chronic prison overcrowding (2.2 million people behind bars), the epidemic is accelerating the penal reform initiated by Barack Obama and continued by Donald Trump to reconsider the all-repressive model of 1980-90 drug “war”. On March 18, a group of about 30 progressive prosecutors issued a manifesto calling on the police to stop incarcerating suspects who pose no physical threat or who cannot pay bail for their interim release. Courts also suggest releasing detainees over 55: they form the largest contingent at risk. Their number has increased by 280% in twenty years.
