Decarceration and the COVID-19 Pandemic

With coronavirus cases on the rise in carceral facilities across the United States, it is more than apparent that something must be done. Decarceration is a major way to prevent the virus from spreading, as well as addressing a number of other serious issues caused by mass incaraceration. In a new study published in The…

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Prisoners Are Entitled To Stimulus Payments, Court Holds

prisoner stimulus

A federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction that requires the IRS pay $1,200 in stimulus to prisoners, holding that prisoners are eligible for CARES Act stimulus payments. However, prisoners must act fast in order to claim their stimulus payment. The IRS requires the submission of a form, postmarked no later than October 30, 2020,…

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COVID-19 Mortality Rates On the Rise

Since COVID-19 first appeared in the US, prisons across the country have felt the brunt of its effects. By August 2020, 19 of the 20 top clusters of active cases in the US were found in incarceration facilities. With more than 2 million people incarcerated in the United States, it is imperative that the effects…

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Correctional Populations on the Decline in America

Mass incarceration has plagued the United States for years now. There are still over 6 million people incarcerated in America. But a new report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics suggests that correctional populations are on the decline. This report is part of an annual series that began in 1958. It’s primary use is to…

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The Overuse of the SHU during COVID-19

I am at the BOP’s premier medical facility and I had COVID-19 for around 5 weeks before converting to negative in late June. All evidence points to overuse of the SHU here as the cause of the virus spreading on the compound. Being a medical place, not much happens here. So they use the SHU…

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Running into Ruin: Federal Prisons Fail at Containing COVID-19

Words from Coronavirus-Stricken Seagoville As I write this, I am incarcerated at a Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) facility near Dallas, Texas known as FCI Seagoville. As of early July, my institution is making headlines as the federal prison with the largest, uncontrolled infection of the novel coronavirus in the United States. And while the…

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