State prison irresponsible in release of inmate to Stanislaus County – or any county

Looks like we dodged a coronavirus bullet, no thanks to irresponsible state prison officials who released a quarantining inmate to the streets of Stanislaus County.

It’s clear that authorities with the men’s prison in Chino, a lockup in San Bernardino County, knew full well that:

• This unnamed inmate had been exposed to the coronavirus a day before his early release.
• Following protocol, he was to return to Stanislaus County, where his undisclosed crime had been committed.
• He was homeless here before the offense, and likely would again be homeless and unable to self-quarantine for 14 days.

In what universe does this release make any sense?

It appears that prison officials were thinking only of themselves and their troubled institution in Chino, fast becoming the poster child for custody coronavirus nightmares. They certainly had no regard for us and our shelters where the infected inmate might have landed. That’s a shocking outrage.

Luckily, inmate didn’t wind up in Stanislaus County

In a weird twist, the inmate didn’t come here like he was supposed to.

For whatever reason, he ended up 200 miles from Modesto, in Ukiah in Mendocino County, north of San Francisco, where his aunt lives. Sure enough, once he surfaced, the former inmate tested positive for COVID-19, meaning he’s carrying the virus and can give it to others even though he’s not showing symptoms himself.

It’s not hard to envision the havoc and heartache he might have inflicted on our Stanislaus homeless population had he followed the rules.

Mendocino authorities are understandably incensed. At least they’re being judicious with their ire and not directing it at us, because it’s not our fault.

From time to time, you hear accusations of an agency dumping undesirables elsewhere so that they become someone else’s problem. Modesto was appalled, for example, when Escalon police brought two homeless people with criminal histories here in August 2018; they wanted to come here, had money for a motel room and requested a ride, and police obliged, Escalon officials explained.

“We don’t do that” to other counties, Mark Ferreira, Stanislaus probation chief, told me on the phone Monday.

Chino prison has 59 inmates with COVID-19

Reasonable people understand the logic behind early release during a pandemic. Jails and prisons can become petri dishes of infection.

That’s what’s happening now in the Chino lockup, where an inmate died of COVID-19 complications, authorities announced Sunday. Chino has more COVID-19 inmate cases (59) than any of the state’s 34 other prisons, which have 115 total, plus 89 staff members testing positive.

To decrease the chances of a custody flare-up in our jail, Stanislaus authorities released several dozen inmates last week. State authorities followed a similar path, in recent days setting free some 3,500 inmates who were within 60 days of their formal release dates.

This isn’t about prisoners’ rights, and incarceration is not the answer to society’s many ills. This is about using common sense in uncommon times.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation should revise its rules to provide flexibility and allow the retention of inmates exposed to the coronavirus, so they are cared for and don’t go out and sicken others.

The mystery inmate from Stanislaus County expected to be paroled May 7. He was exposed to the coronavirus and put into 14-day prison quarantine on April 7; the next day — April 8 — he was removed from quarantine and released.

Holding him in safe isolation until his quarantine would have been up on April 21 would have protected us and Mendocino County and everyone else while still freeing him earlier than he initially expected.