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Dem Wants More Prison Inmates Released Due To Coronavirus

At least one Democratic party lawmaker wants to give the state corrections commissioner the ability to release inmates from correctional facilities into home confinement.

Assemblyman David Weprin, D-Fresh Meadows, recently introduced A.10957 in the state Assembly to amend the Correction Law. Weprin proposes adding a new section to state law so that it mirrors the federal law, allowing state corrections officials to place those sentenced to jail or prison time to serve home confinement.

Weprin said the proposal would save the state money by lowering the prison population and save in medical costs for those in prison.

“COVID-19 hits hardest in dense population centers or clusters where people gather in close proximity,” Weprin wrote in his legislative justification. “It is advised to maintain social distance of at least 6 feet to mitigate the possibility of contracting the virus, but it is nearly impossible to do so in our correctional facilities. The state’s correctional facilities are notoriously over- crowded, and thus, COVID-19 is spreading within New York’s incarcerated population at a much higher rate than the general population. It is time to think of alternatives to confinement in our facilities to lower congestion.”

State Division of Corrections and Community Supervision officials told the Adirondack Daily Enterprise in July that it transitioned 1,220 people from prisons back to the community due to the coronavirus, meaning the state correctional population as of July 2 was 38,325, according to department spokesperson Rachel Connors.

Connors said DOCCS was reviewing inmates of all ages who are within 90 days of release for potential early release. That review excluded people serving sentences for A-I or A-2 non-drug offenses, class B through E violent felony offenses or a sex offense. Their release would be reliant on an assessment that they do not pose a risk to society and that they have housing available when released — so they do not end up at a congregate shelter, which could be dangerous for spreading the virus.

According to Connors, DOCCS has also released 12 pregnant or post-partum women, all of whom were not committed on violent felonies or sex offenses and were within six months of an approved release date.

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