California to release 8,000 inmates early in coming weeks to clear space amid coronavirus
California will release about 8,000 prison inmates early between now and the end of August, with the state corrections department on Friday introducing a combination of measures to free up space during the coronavirus pandemic.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation expanded upon a letter sent Thursday, which informed most inmates they’d have a 12-week credit applied to their sentences, with an announcement Friday of three additional cohorts that will qualify for release over the next several weeks:
▪ The state, on a rolling basis, is currently screening and releasing inmates with 180 days or fewer remaining on their sentence who are not currently incarcerated for a violent crime and who are not registered or required to register as a sex offender.
▪ Inmates age 30 or older with 365 days or fewer on their sentence, and who meet the same requirements listed above, will automatically be eligible for release from eight institutions that “house large populations of high-risk patients” for COVID-19, CDCR says. Those younger than 30 meeting the requirements will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Those eight prisons are: San Quentin, Folsom State Prison, Central California Women’s Facility, California Health Care Facility, California Institution for Men, California Institution for Women, California Medical Facility and Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility.
▪ The third cohort, inmates considered at high risk for COVID-19, will be eligible for release if they have an assessment showing low risk of violence, are not required to register as sex offenders and are not condemned to death or serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
On Thursday, CDCR in a letter to the incarcerated and memo to staff announced the department would be giving “Positive Programming Credits” worth 12 weeks to all inmates except those on death row, those serving life without the possibility of parole and those found guilty of serious rules violations between March 1 and July 5 while in prison. About 108,000 of the roughly 112,000 in CDCR custody qualify for the credit, according to Friday’s news release.
The initial letter said the credit wouldn’t apply until Aug. 1, but Friday’s announcement said releases from the 12 shaved weeks will instead start this month. The credit will see about 2,100 inmates released from July through September, CDCR said.
CDCR estimates the 180-day release program will clear another 4,800 from state prisons by the end of July.
The department did not have estimates for the remaining two cohorts, but said it expects about 8,000 inmates to be released early by the end of August as a result of the new measures.
All who are released will be tested for COVID-19 within a week of leaving prison, according to the news release.
The announcements come as devastating outbreaks have already swept through several of California’s prisons, and amid calls from anti-recidivism activists, lawyers, lawmakers and others to implement better social distancing and health protocols at the institutions as the state grapples with the coronavirus pandemic.
According to COVID-19 data maintained on the CDCR website, 31 inmates have died and more than 5,700 have tested positive across the state prison system, with nearly 2,300 of those cases active as of Thursday. The worst outbreak is ongoing at San Quentin, where there are more than 1,300 active infections, 300 “resolved” cases and seven fatalities, including at least three who died while on death row.
The department reported 719 active cases in CDCR employees as of Thursday, more than 200 of them at San Quentin.
In a July 1 hearing, California lawmakers attributed San Quentin’s outbreak to a “horribly botched transfer” from the California Institution for Men in Chino. Assemblyman Marc Levine, D-San Rafael, called it the “worst prison health screwup in state history.”
Since mid-March, CDCR has released about 10,000 inmates early, including a round of 3,500 in April involving those with sentences ending within the following 60 days, according to Friday’s news release.
CDCR Secretary Ralph Diaz wrote in Thursday’s letter that CDCR was “exploring other options” on top of the 12-week credit.
“To continue to effectively fight this virus, we must create more space in our prisons, both to expand physical distancing to slow COVID-19’s spread and to ease some of the immense challenges staff face every day,” Diaz wrote.
This story was originally published July 10, 2020 at 7:05 AM with the headline "California to release 8,000 inmates early in coming weeks to clear space amid coronavirus."
