COVID-19 is a death sentence for many California prisoners. Gov. Gavin Newsom must act
In 2019, Gov. Gavin Newsom imposed a death penalty moratorium in California. Will it matter?
The COVID-19 outbreak unfolding at San Quentin State Prison – and in other jail and prison facilities around the state – may impose death sentences on people who never received them from the courts. As of Friday, over 1,300 of San Quentin’s 3,000 inmates had tested positive for the virus and one had died. Dozens were hospitalized, but hospitals had started to reject further transfers from the prison, according to the Marin Independent-Journal.
The problem is worsening, with cases reported at nearly every California prison facility. Newsom must now pursue bold and unprecedented solutions to address this unfolding humanitarian disaster. If he fails to act, the governor who sought to end the death penalty may end up overseeing the execution – by pandemic – of more prisoners than any governor in modern history.
“In California prisons, the number of cases has risen by nearly 200 percent and deaths by 144 percent during the past month,” according to the New York Times.
“We did not meet this moment,” said Assemblyman Marc Levin, D-Greenbrae, during a legislative hearing on Wednesday. Levine, who represents Marin County, called the Newsom administration’s response “an unacceptable and unmitigated disaster delivered by a lack of planning and preparation.”
“This is the biggest prison catastrophe in state history, and we’re not getting the attention we need from the administration to make sure that it can be contained,” he told the Marin Independent-Journal.
Levine has called on federal judges to replace J. Clark Kelso, the federal receiver in charge of California’s prison healthcare system. The COVID-19 catastrophe at San Quentin started after Kelso authorized the transfer of inmates from a prison in Southern California to San Quentin.
“A federal judge wiped away tears Friday as he addressed an increasingly disastrous coronavirus outbreak at San Quentin prison, calling the recent transfer of infected prisoners to the facility a ‘significant failure of policy and planning,’” according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
“We know what’s going to happen. We know,” said Judge Jon Tigar said, his voice cracking, reported the Chronicle. “So, you have the chance to avoid some unnecessary infection and mortality at San Quentin. Probably.”
The judge urged authorities to find ways to transfer or release more prisoners to avoid unspeakable carnage.
On Monday, Newsom pointed to earlier efforts that resulted in a “decompression” of the prison system through the release of approximately 3,500 inmates who were nearing completion of their sentences. He said his administration has now identified nearly 3,500 more inmates who may also be eligible for early emergency release, but pointed out that some of those inmates have no place to go if they’re released.
Legislators and advocates are pushing him harder. Some want the governor to use the full powers of his office, including the power of commutation, to release more inmates before it’s too late. A coalition spearheaded by the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights has called on the governor to declare an emergency and develop guidelines to release old, frail, medically vulnerable or low-risk prisoners.
“At this point, the only way we can protect the lives of people at San Quentin and the larger public is to reduce the prison population as quickly as possible,” said San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju. “San Quentin is cited as the premier example of a rehabilitation- and redemption-focused institution. It is time to honor that image by releasing people based on who they are today, not based on what they may have done years or decades ago.”
Newsom pushed back at the idea of a mass release of inmates, saying some of them have no life plans and no place to go. It’s a fair point, though it’s hard to imagine anything more hellish than being locked up in an overcrowded 19th century prison during a deadly viral outbreak. A slow, bureaucratic and politically-cautious response to this emergency will cost lives.
At stake here is the very notion of justice. Many California inmates are doing time for serious crimes. The question is whether they deserve to die due to an uncontrolled COVID-19 outbreak. Some may still pose a threat, but many elderly and medically vulnerable prisoners are being kept behind bars for the sake of punishment rather than justice.
Our prisons have many elderly and low-risk inmates who, despite their past crimes, pose little or no threat to society. Newsom said 42 percent of San Quentin’s prison inmates are considered “medically vulnerable.” The chances that these men would re-offend are exceedingly low, and the governor has broad power over their fates.
This week, as the virus spread uncontrolled through the prison, the Newsom administration rushed to build triage tents to house inmates at San Quentin. But tents aren’t a real solution.
If ever a moment called for Newsom to summon his trademark courage and boldness to do what conventional thinkers believe cannot be done, it is now. We call on the governor to use his vast powers to take any emergency actions necessary to save California inmates from dying preventable and unjust deaths behind bars.
This story was originally published July 2, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "COVID-19 is a death sentence for many California prisoners. Gov. Gavin Newsom must act."