According to the California Department of Corrections, the state is will release up to 18,000 convicted and accused criminals by the end of August to ‘slow the spread of COVID-19.’
The CDCR says its previous “pandemic emergency decompression efforts” have reduced inmate populations system-wide by approximately 10,000 people already, to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission within its facilities.
“These actions are taken to provide for the health and safety of the incarcerated population and staff,” CDCR Secretary Ralph Diaz said in a news release. “We aim to implement these decompression measures in a way that aligns both public health and public safety.”
According to the CDCR, of the state’s approximate 115,000 inmates, roughly 2,400 prisoners have tested positive for the coronavirus, and at least 31 prisoners have died from COVID-19 related illnesses – accounting for roughly 2 percent and 0.026 percent, respectively, of the inmate population.
The state prison system has more than 17,000 inmates considered medically high risk, according to UCLA School of Law’s Prison Law & Policy Program.
According to a study conducted by UCLA and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, U.S. prison inmates test positive for COVID-19 at a rate 5.5 times higher than that of the general public. Contrary to this report, California prisons have faired better.
The state prison system operates 35 adult detention facilities, 4 youth facilities, and 44 conservation/fire camps.
Source: Washington Examiner, NBC
Image: San Francisco Bicycle Coalition
I hope these criminals stay in New York.
18000 more shitbags that can s**t in the streets of SanFranSHITco