As COVID rises in New York jails, officials quibble over blame

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“Our policy is to limit bail applications to cases involving violent and repeat offenders, especially those with a record of warrant,” a Brooklyn DA spokesperson said. “We are well aware of the recent spike in COVID cases and the humanitarian crisis in Rikers, and we have reviewed all cases of people being held to identify those who could be safely released. “

The Manhattan DA office said that “in light of the recent surge in COVID-19 cases among those in custody, we are continuing to review cases where bail has been set, with the goal of recommending release. of certain people accused of crimes or not. -violent crimes which do not present a clear threat to public safety.

However, some bristled at what they saw as an effort to blame the situation in the city’s prisons.

“To be clear, the lion’s share of the responsibility for creating and promoting a safe environment on Rikers Island rests with the mayor and corrections – not prosecutors, not the bar and not the courts,” said Ryan Lavis, a spokesperson for Staten Island DA.

Lavis added that his office is seeking to identify cases that qualify for compassionate release “or some other less restrictive means of monitoring, just as we did last year during the height of the pandemic.” But, he said, “that does not mean that we will agree to simply empty our city’s prisons at the sacrifice of public safety.”

Delays in court cases have helped people spend more time on Rikers Island now than they did before the pandemic. But Lucian Chalfen, spokesperson for the Office of Courts Administration, protested against the commissioner’s message.

“This letter is emblematic of Blasio’s administration’s ongoing blame transfer model,” Chalfen told WNYC / Gothamist on Wednesday. “Trying to turn their inability to manage the city’s prison system into a global criminal justice crisis in New York is just shameful. Judges make decisions on indictments about whether or not an accused person should be imprisoned on the basis of the law and on the basis of their belief that the individual will fulfill their obligation to return to court. “

Defenders call on the city to improve the conditions of those still in prison. Eight people in the city’s prisons died from COVID between March 2020 and March 2021, including five who died after being released to a city hospital. Stoughton said the city appears less equipped to handle the outbreak now than it was earlier in the pandemic.

Due to understaffing, Stoughton said: “You can’t put people in clinics for basic medical care. People who may be symptomatic have no one to report it to because there is no one there. “

Jeanette Merrill, spokesperson for the city’s Correctional Health Services (CHS), said access to clinics was a priority “so that we can continue to provide health and mental health services to our patients.” She added that people in prison can also call a hotline from their accommodation to speak directly with a nurse.

Merrill said the CHS is also taking action to control the spread of omicron. This includes testing people newly admitted to city prisons and quarantining people who are positive or have been exposed to someone with COVID. “We continue to work with the Department of Corrections to house COVID-positive patients in COVID-confirmed housing units for appropriate isolation and monitoring,” Merrill said.

Correctional officers have been given an extension until Dec. 1 to comply with the COVID-19 vaccination mandate for city employees, but hundreds have been suspended for refusing to do so. The CHS did not respond to a question from WNYC / Gothamist about how many employees have been suspended or fired because of the tenure and how many are absent for other reasons.

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