The lawsuit challenged the constitutionality of their treatment during the pandemic
The North Carolina Department of Public Safety is getting 3,500 early prison releases after settling a lawsuit alleging that their constitutional rights were violated by the treatment they received during the COVID-19 pandemic. This emerges from a press release from the North Carolina ACLU. The press release cited the relief as one of the “largest releases in the country achieved through COVID-19 litigation.”
Originally filed in a state court in April 2020, the NC NAACP lawsuit against Cooper involved multiple plaintiffs including three incarcerated people and a family member, the NC NAACP, the North Carolina ACLU, Disability Rights North Carolina, Emancipate NC, Forward Justice and the National Juvenile Justice Network. The settlement was approved by Judge Vinston Rozier Jr. of the Wake County Supreme Court.
“What is happening in North Carolina prisons is the convergence of two pandemics, both caused by racism and classicism – COVID 19 and an unfair criminal justice system,” said Rev. Dr. T. Anthony Spearman, president of NC NAACP, in the news release.
To date, 47 people have died of COVID-19 in North Carolina prisons. This is evident from DPS press releases compiled by Carolina Public Press reporter Jordan Wilkie.
Rozier issued orders in June and August last year, asking the state for a plan and calling for further testing. In one order, Rozier described it as necessary “to enable the early release of authorized persons as far and safely as possible”.
He also appointed a special master, Thomas Maher, executive director of the Center for Science and Justice at Duke University, to ensure the state is following the rules after discovering the state is not following its earlier instructions.
In addition to the first 3,500 releases, the governor’s office also agreed to monitor and control the prison population and promised to send people home early if they were to be released within 90 days if the prison population increased than 10% increased.
The state will also take steps to educate and incentivize staff and local residents to receive vaccines, and to strengthen safety measures related to transfers, the provision of PPE, and isolation for positive patients.
“This lawsuit was particularly necessary to protect the lives of incarcerated people with disabilities, as we know that many disabled people are at greatest risk of serious illness or death from COVID-19 due to chronic illness,” said Susan H. Pollitt , North Carolina executive attorney at Disability Rights said in the news release.
This regulation does not apply to district prisons. Other individual applications and complaints about conditions of detention in prisons and prisons are still frequently submitted.
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