“Bail reform is ultimately about protecting the bedrock principle of the American legal system — the presumption of innocence — and ensuring that it applies to all of us equally.”
“We don’t want someone who is not been found guilty of anything to be locked up in jail and pretty much be given a death sentence potentially, because of COVID-19.” -Anthony Body, Cleveland Bail Disruptor.
We’re re-orienting teams from across the country to focus on Cook County, the site of a major COVID-19 outbreak.
Our state regional coordinator in Michigan writes, “Certain moments define a society and its leaders. And this is one of them. Unless St. Louis city and county officials take action now, this pandemic will create a humanitarian disaster in our jails, putting lives at risk.“
This interactive tool tracks developments of the coronavirus response in local and state governments, with a focus on what is being done — and what’s not done — to protect vulnerable populations.
The pandemic could create a humanitarian crisis in jails if officials don’t act quickly. We’re calling for a mass released of people detained pretrial in order to avoid an unprecedented health catastrophe.
“The risk of spreading infection is especially severe in light of the Spokane County Jail’s chronic overcrowding. This threatens everyone incarcerated in a jail, along with their loved ones, jail staff and the state’s public health infrastructure at large.”
“To help advocates, journalists, and policy makers see what positive action could look like, we are curating examples of actions taken to slow the spread of the disease in prisons, in jails, and among people on probation or parole.”
“The Bail Project stressed that more inmates should be released on their own recognizance so the county’s jail facilities don’t become hot spots for coronavirus transmission. Lockdowns would be ineffective because of rapid turnover in the jail population.”
“As the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread across Washington, we urge you to undertake all possible measures to prevent the spread of infection within the Spokane County Jail. An outbreak of COVID-19 in the jail would be swift and deadly, and now is the time for decisive preventative measures.”