CSI and other coalition partners are demanding the immediate release of hundreds of incarcerated people from the North Carolina prisons.
COVID-19 is a crisis inside prisons and jails. We have seen the virus spread out of control in these overcrowded and under-sanitized facilities in other states. Our incarcerated neighbors disproportionately experience health problems. Many are elders. We have seen that Black people are dying at egregious rates with this disease. Our friends and family members in prison are at grave risk of death.
Our Coalition has been advocating for de-carceration for weeks: through letters, press releases, Tweet storms, and behind-the-scenes conversations. Now, we are making a firm demand through this Writ of Mandamus.
So what is it really like for families of those incarcerated in light of COVID-19?
FROM NC POLICY WATCH: Making a bad situation unbearable: A state prison inmate’s wife explains the toll COVID-19 is taking