As COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc across the country, one of the places that are being impacted the most are jails and prisons. They are also the places most likely to be neglected in the government’s horridly dysfunctional response efforts.
According to CBS News, Jay-Z and Meek Mill’s REFORM Alliance is donating 100,000 masks to multiple jails and prisons across the country. REFORM Alliance is an organization focused on criminal justice reform. The masks will serve those who work in the prison as well as those incarcerated.
From CBS News:
The REFORM Alliance on Friday announced it would send 40,000 masks to the Tennessee Department of Corrections, 5,000 masks to Parchman and 50,000 to Rikers, and another 2,500 to a Rikers medical facility. The organization said correctional facilities have been especially impacted by the global shortage of protective gear.
It is concerning that the prison population is especially defenseless to COVID-19 as the tight spaces make it damn near impossible for them to practice social distancing. Prisons such as Parchman in Mississippi were already under investigation for poor sanitary conditions, infrastructure, and rampant gang violence. Their efficiency to handle current pandemic is doubtful at best. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has released inmates from Rikers Island to ease overcrowding and to lower the spread as much as possible. Jessica Jackson, the chief advocacy officer at REFORM, told CBS News “Overwhelmingly the response was, ‘please provide the masks, we really need them.’ They want to protect the people working and living in the facilities.”
Sadly since states are being forced into the war of who needs it most for essential supplies and the president seems more worried about tweeting about ratings and unproven drugs, it looks like it’s going to be up to advocacy organizations and Stars like Meek and Hov to fight for the incarcerated.
