Prison Should Not Be a Death Sentence; With Covid, It Often Is

People in prisons are, by some estimates, five times more likely to get COVID-19 than those on the outside. To enable social distancing, some people incarcerated in more than twenty-one states were granted early releases last year. This was also the case in Washington State, where I am incarcerated.

But, as soon as Washington’s incarcerated population decreased from around 17,000 to around 13,000 in an effort to save money, the Department of Corrections shut down living units and targeted entire prisons for closure. The remaining residents were, once again, crammed together, negating the previous releases. Outbreaks soon ensued.