NC prisons could a tinderbox for COVID-19. Move now to protect inmates and workers.

The COVID-19 outbreak has driven many North Carolinians into voluntary confinement at home to lower their chance of getting or spreading the infection, but state officials need to pay urgent attention to those whose confinement may actually put them at greater risk — the more than 50,000 people who are locked up in county jails and the state’s prisons.

So far, there has not been a confirmed case of the virus among the inmate population, but an infection is all but inevitable and an outbreak in a jail or prison setting could move quickly. A COVID-19 outbreak among inmates living in close quarters would overwhelm the already inadequate jail and prison health care systems and also put deputies and corrections officers at risk.

Last week, a coalition of groups asked Gov. Roy Cooper to act to protect the state’s incarcerated population. Cooper said Monday that he is aware of the potential trouble and steps have been taken to prevent it. The Department of Public Safety is restricting visitors and screening incoming inmates for signs of COVID-19 and has stepped up the cleaning of prisons and transport buses.

Those are prudent steps, but more must be done across the state, and quickly. It’s not hard to see the options. Advocates for reducing mass incarceration, such as the Prison Policy Initiative, have long cited ways to cut the inmate population without increasing risk to the public.

The first and simplest step is to reduce the number of people being sent to jail. North Carolina’s 113 jails are less equipped than prisons to handle an infectious disease outbreak, especially jails in poorer and rural counties. Jail populations can be cut by reducing bail requirements, using citations rather than arrests for minor crimes, diverting more suspects to mental health and substance abuse programs and processing jail inmates’ cases quickly rather than having people linger in jail awaiting court dates. On Sunday, New Jersey’s chief justice signed an order that could lead to the release of as many as 1,000 people being held in jails for probation violations or low-level crimes.

To their credit, district attorneys in the Triangle and Mecklenburg County are moving to reduce county jail populations. Durham County District Attorney Satana Deberry sought to cut the numbers even before the outbreak by releasing many non-violent offenders and in the past week her efforts have helped reduce Durham’s jail population by 9 percent.

In Wake County, District Attorney Lorrin Freeman has kept four District and Superior Court courtrooms operating to help speed the release of jail inmates awaiting hearings and she is reducing bond requirements in many cases. “We are taking a more progressive view of bond conditions that are set at first appearances,” she said. “I have encouraged my prosecutors to seek unsecured bonds in non-violent crimes where there is no risk to the public.”

Freeman is also consulting with the state prison system about considering the release of inmates 60 and older, about 6 percent of the state’s male prison population. Though she said those cases often are complicated because many of the inmates in that age group have been convicted of homicide or serious sexual crimes. Nonetheless, it is worth reviewing whether older inmates with medical problems could be moved to settings where they are less at risk of contracting COVID-19.

The DPS has temporarily taken other steps recommended by prisoner advocates. Medical co-pays have been waived for inmates experiencing fever or flu-like symptoms, and prisoners are getting more opportunities to communicate with friends and family members. Onerous phone charges are being waived; inmates can make two five-minute phone calls per week for free.

North Carolina’s jails and prisons faced major problems before COVID-19. The jails are holding too many people whose crimes are related to mental illness or drug addiction. The prisons are understaffed, corrections officers are poorly paid and medical providers are in short supply. Steps taken in response to COVID-19 could lead to a lasting reduction in the number of people behind bars and safer conditions for corrections workers and inmates alike.

This story was originally published March 24, 2020 at 12:00 AM with the headline "NC prisons could a tinderbox for COVID-19. Move now to protect inmates and workers.."