The Prison's Perspective (Nikhail Rinke)
Fact-Checked Source:
Keri Blakinger, "When Purell is Contraband, How Do You Contain Coronavirus?"
This articles was published on March 6 2020, and it goes in depth on the conditions of the prisons and how the threat of COVID-19 is affecting the prisoners both physically and mentally. Marshall Project LinkLooking Deeper: Five Facts Checked
In an attempt to verify and include more insight to the claims in my article, I taken a deeper dive into some of the claims made about prisoners regarding COVID-19.Myth #1: Inmates are prohibited from using alcohol based hand-sanitizer.
In an article produced by Quartz, they confirmed that most prisoner's are banned to use hand sanitizer. It is considered contraband because there is a high alcohol content; the alcohol can be removed from the gel and consumed. In a big controversy the New York Governor wants to use inmates to help with sanitizer shortages.
Myth #2: Prisoners have better access to cleaning supplies.
According to an anonymous inmate interviewed by VICE he doesn't have access to household cleaners, and the prison ran out of disinfectant. Where as the California Corrections Department says the are providing these necessities. Prisoners mention that the soap provided isn't enough and the hand sanitizer is not what the CDC recommends to use.
Myth #3: Prison facilities plan to lock inmates temporarily in order to slow the spread of the virus if it were to get inside, similar to how they treat the flu and other outbreaks.
Michael Balsamo, with Fortune Magazine, describe the situation in Louisiana "a mess". Louisiana has multiple prison staff workers and hospital works that have tested positive for COVID-19, as well as over 20 inmates. With not enough help and a shortage of cleaning supplies they are going to put all 146,000 inmates on lockdown to control any outbreak. This only one example, measures like this are being considered all trough out the world. Iran has already temporarily freed a lot of their prisoners.
Myth #4: Most prisons have over-crowding and a healthcare staff and medical providers are often understaffed.
This would be a true statement according to Kristan Morgan in an interview by The New York Times. There is a sole doctor in a lot of federal prisons, and when they can't work like in Ms. Morgan's case this causes problems. As a nurse practitioner she says she can see new inmates developing fevers. Morgan also mentions that she has to reuse masks because they only have about 3,000 when they need 10,000.
Myth #5: Inmates are worried if they will ever get out to see their family again.
Most inmates believe that is impassible to take the necessary precautions while imprisoned to stop the flow of the virus. Social distancing is virtually impossible and they don't have any of the supplies necessary to keep clean. In an interview with The Marshall Project an inmate who goes by Guzman says he is extremely worried if he will get out. The prisons have stopped all visitation and still charge for phone calls and letters. This is putting millions of families in a state of worry.
Analytic Essay:
A Prisoner's Worst Nightmare: A Prisoner's Perspective on COVID-19
Imagine being one the toughest, grittiest, and hardest people on Earth. What would you fear, if anything at all? Now put yourself in the shoes of an inmate in prison. You are conditioned not to show fear or back down from anybody or anything. Most of the people have committed crimes that are unimaginable in our head. But what sends shivers down their back at night. For them this nightmare is slowly unfolding to be true; this nightmare is being locked behind bars during a pandemic. Inmates live in conditions where social distancing is anything but impossible and no one cares for their feelings. Prisoners all across the world feel as if they don’t have the proper resources to stay safe, they are worried about their few privileges, but most importantly a lot of them wonder if they will ever get to see their family ever again.Prisoners do not believe they are getting the necessary treatment and cleaning supplies in order to help prevent an outbreak within their cells. For most of them commonly used Purell hand sanitizer is considered contraband due to its alcohol content. This poses a big threat to inmates because they can’t wash their hands enough because they have to pay for soap and there isn’t enough. Laura Johnson squirted some sanitizer on her hands after leaving the nurses room at a prison in Central Texas and lost all privileges for 10 days (Blakinger, 2020). However, under a state of duress inmates are taking drastic measures to increase their chances of being safe. Many inmates try to steal bleach and other cleaners before they run out just to clean their cells.
In California prisons an anonymous inmate says guards aren’t implementing and mandatory cleanings and no soap is being handed out.
“Maybe because there’s been no known cases or maybe because the people in charge don't care if prisoners catch the virus or not” (Ferranti, 2020).
Most prisons are overcrowded and do not have the supplies needed to support the inmates; even if they do the water isn’t clean, there is a shortage of sinks and showers, and healthcare workers are at a minimum. Washing your hands properly can be a problem because of certain facilities of water contamination such as the Legionnaires outbreak in Florida (Blakinger, 2020). According to Kenneth Hogan a prisoner in Eastern New York says,
“many inmates believe the inconsistent precautionary measures taken by the prison to combat COVID-19 actually place everyone at a greater risk of contracting the virus” (Hogan, 2020).
One thing that helps prisoners get through their time locked up is visitation rights with their family. However, because prison facilities want to stop people from coming in from outside, because that is the only way the virus can get in, they have ended all visitations rights. Moreover, this causes a huge amount of paranoia amongst the prisoners because they think the guards are going to bring it in.
They think they are “most likely going be left to fend for [ourselves]” (Ferranti, 2020).Overcrowding is a huge problem in prisons all across the world, and because of this they experience a much higher infection and disease burden than the rest of us. The tuberculosis rates in prisons are around 23 times more inside prisons rather than out, now apply this concept to a very virulent virus like COVID-19 (Ndeffo-Mbah, 2018).
Prisoners are without time on the yard, work, the library, school, and even their chapel. Hogan describes this very grim mood in the prison, with everyone worried about seeing their family every again. Their biggest fear is that a guard will contract the virus and hundreds of prisoners will die without the proper access medical treatment (Hogan, 2020). This amount of anxiety and unease can cause a considerable amount of danger within the prisons.
Our nation has to decide what we should do about this major issue right now. A lot of prisons are considering letting a lot of inmates free temporarily depending on their crimes and risk level. A lot of our prisoners in the United States are elderly with preexisting conditions. These people can’t access general cleaning supplies for it to make a healthy difference, it is impossible to successful social distance while dealing with so many people in such a small area, and many prisoners have anxiety about their families. These are good grounds for worry in the prisoners, but they all mention they are quick to adapt and they can get through this.