User talk:Sammie0o00998/Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States

https://www.prisonpolicy.org/virus/virusresponse.html link I want to add

Before

Main article: Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on prisons § United States

As COVID-19 was spreading to several prisons in the U.S., some states and local jurisdictions began to release prisoners considered vulnerable to the virus. To reduce transmission, the Federal Bureau of Prisons started a near-lockdown for all prisoners on April 1, for at least 14 days. Part of this push has involved a call to reduce prison size.

What I want to add

In some states legislators issued statewide emergency resolutions to reduce bail to $0 for some low level offenses and most misdemeanor and some low-level felony offenses reducing prison populations greatly. Most who are relapsed are put on probation.

some facts from old work to add or put in article somehow but revised

Covid 19 poses a heightened threat in our correctional facilities because if it spreads in the facilities it can be destructive among the incarcerated population, and staff for whom social distancing is almost impossible due to overcrowding. Also the added cost of healthcare in the facilities can be too much to bear for those prisons and jails who are already struggling financially. Not to mention if the workforce falls ill such as correction officers then that would be a huge blow in trying to keep the facilities in check along with local communities. There would be less work force then the people at work remaining would have to work longer hours or potentially risk infecting others. Which can cause psychological tolls and tensions among each other. Joint statements from elected prosecutors on Covid 19 in addressing the rights and needs of those in custody discusses the overpopulation of jails, and prisons while also mentioning the catastrophic effect that Covid 19 would cause. The statement also brought up some reasons that causes overpopulation which can help the spread Covid 19 more it states “like over the last few decades, a result of people being prosecuted more often for less serious behavior; an increase in the severity of sentences imposed; and our cash-based pretrial detention system, which keeps hundreds of thousands of people in jail prior to any determination of guilt and merely because they can’t afford to pay bail” (“Joint Statements”, 2020). In the letter it warns if these facilities become breeding grounds for Covid 19 it will not only impact those incarcerated, but our entire community. The main reason being is that jails and prisons have a number of people fluctuating in and out the system. Especially within the jail because many people are arrested and go into jail on the same day, and others are being released and put back into their community. This puts the community at risk of Covid 19 infections coming from correctional facilities and vice versa. Covid 19 will also take toll financially because these facilities will rely on services and support from medical professionals and health care agents, people with severe conditions who need intensive medical treatment will need to be removed from these facilities to be treated in local hospitals which will cost lots of money if there is an outbreak of covid 19 among the incarcerated.

Unfortunately we can already see Covid 19 outbreaks forming among our prisons and jails populations in recent news. In a case reported by ABC news was about an outbreak of covid 19 cases affecting over 500 prisoners indicating that it may have come to staff (Hutchinson, 2020). The facility infected was Bledsoe Correctional Complex in Pikeville, Tennessee. Most of the prisoners who were tested were asymptomatic, and the facility stated it has taken more steps to prevent the outbreak from growing (Hutchinson, 2020). This report explains how the people working in prisons can bring the virus into the prisons, a main concern the correction system is facing all throughout the country. It also mentions limited hygiene products and the current investigation in place at the facility because this is an ongoing case. This brings into question how well the prisons and jails are doing in order to combat covid 19 from affecting within and what rules they are implementing in correctional facilities in order to prevent more cases like the one in Tennessee from happening.