Crowded living conditions, inadequate healthcare, and violence are pervasive features of correctional facilities across the country. But because these are closed systems, the public is usually in the dark. The coronavirus crisis has brought these conditions back into the public eye. Oversight of prisons is more essential than ever.
Family and friends of people in prison in New York respond to CANY’s COVID-19 Survey.
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My Greatest Fear is to be a Lab Rat for the State: Covid-19 and vaccine hesitancy in New York State Prisons.
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#DearCANY: COVID-19 Diaries from Prison sponsored by Humanities NY, and hosted by the Correctional Association of New York (CANY).
CANY hosted the event to assist in telling the story of how the coronavirus pandemic has impacted people in prison in New York state. Attendees witnessed letters written to CANY by incarcerated people, videos/testimonies from directly impacted individuals and their families, as well as experts in the field to support documentation of the mostly unseen impacts of quarantine and contagion inside prison.
Featured #DearCANY posts from April 2020 to Present
“Getting Off Rikers Island” on The New York Times, April 2020
“Sing Sing Inmate Describes Fear Behind Bars, As COVID-19 Spreads” on WNYC News
“Inside New York’s Grueling Parole Application Process” from the New York Focus
“Locked In and Locked Out - Prison Life in a Pandemic” from Birkbeck: University of London
“COVID-19 in New York prisons: 'Positivity numbers represent a system on fire’” from Lohud.com
“Prioritizing Prisoners for Vaccines Stirs Controversy” from PEW
“Cuomo loosens reins on prison access for oversight group” in the Times Union
“Latest Coronavirus Update: October” in The Highlands Current
“Report details inconsistent procedures in NY prison during COVID-19 outbreak” in The Daily Orange
“Virus threat cited in push for oversight of prison medical care” in Lockport Union-Sun Journal
“3 Big Ideas to Fuel an Equitable COVID Recovery” from WHYY
“Latest Coronavirus Update” in The Highlands Current
“Coronavirus in Jails and Prison” in The Appeal
“New York’s Pandemic Rolls On and Prison Testing is Still an Issue” in City Limits
“Coronavirus Testing Ramps Up in New York — But Not in State Prisons” in The City
“Give Incarcerated ‘Basic Human Rights’ During Pandemic, Families Say” in The Crime Report
“Sickened Inmates in Wende Told to ‘Ride it Out’” in The Lancaster-Depew Sun
“COVID in Prison: How Much are NY Inmates at Risk and What's the Threat to the Public?” in WAER
“More COVID testing will include prisons, Cuomo says” in the Rome Sentinel
“New York Prisoners ‘In Grave Danger’ From COVID-19, Advocates Warn” in The Crime Report
“New York Prisons Scramble to Fill Medical Jobs as COVID Cases Rise” in The City
“Beacon Prison Virus Cases Highest in State” in The Highlands Current
“State Prison Virus Cases Mounting as Outside Figures Plateau” in The City
“NY not yet moving to release short-time, vulnerable inmates” in Newsday
“Prisoner advocates, inmates ask for COVID-19 safety measures” in The Citizen
“As COVID-19 Measures Grow, Prison Oversight Falls” in The Marshall Project
“Where Hand Sanitizer Is Contraband: Are NY Prisons Ready For Coronavirus?” in Gothamist
“Release During COVID-19 ‘Almost Like Being Incarcerated Again’” in The Crime Report
“Coronavirus Cases Rise Sharply in Prisons Even as They Plateau Nationwide” in The New York Times
“How COVID-19 is playing out in NY prisons, through one inmate’s eyes” in North Country Public Radio
“COVID-19 shows us prison healthcare is in dire need of reform” in LSE US Centre
“I’m in prison. I may never get to see my family again due to coronavirus” in The Guardian
“He was Waiting for Clemency. Now He’s Fighting Coronavirus.” in City Limits
“Vigils Demand Clemency for Those Threatened by COVID in Prisons” in Public News Service
“Coronavirus: State prison infection rate nears 70% of those tested” in Poughkeepsie Journal
“Service dogs trained behind bars provide comfort to health care heroes” in Today
“New York state will give all inmates face masks as COVID-19 death toll rises” in Queens Daily Eagle
“NY prisoner with coronavirus, 72, dies with bid for medical parole pending” in NY Daily News
“Advocates push for more inmate releases amid outbreak” in Adirondack Daily Enterprise
“The Coronavirus Crisis Inside Prisons Won’t Stay Behind Bars” in The New York Times
“Let Our People Go” in The New York Times
“No One Deserves to Die of Covid-19 in Jail” in The New York Times
“Cuomo’s coronavirus prison failure” in New York Daily News
“I’m Facing the Coronavirus Behind Bars” in The Atlantic
“Prisons Breed the Coronavirus. We Can Safely Free Thousands of Inmates.” in The New York Times
“Andrew Cuomo, Stop a Coronavirus Disaster: Release People From Prison” in The New York Times
Prison Policy Initiative Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic
Urban Institute COVID-19 Resources
Parole and Probation Officials’ Recommendations
COVID-19: Guidance for Legal Systems
National Commission on Correctional Healthcare—Infection Prevention and Control
COVID-19 Recommendations from former Chief Medical Officer of NYC Jails
