Groups plead for Walz to take action to prevent prison COVID-19 outbreak

Apr 21, 20200

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The Minnesota Correctional Facility-Stillwater, which is in Bayport, is pictured in January 2019. Built more than 100 years ago, the prison is outdated with a design that could pose a danger for inmates and staff, says a new report released Wednesday, Feb. 26. Jean Pieri / St. Paul Pioneer Press

ST. PAUL - In a letter signed by the Minnesota Board of Public Defense, Justice Action Network, Minnesota Asset Building Coalition and more, state organizations are asking Gov. Tim Walz to protect "some of the most vulnerable among us" from the COVID-19 pandemic: incarcerated Minnesotans.

According to the Monday, April 20, letter, the 12 co-signers asked Walz to consider a list of executive actions to prevent a spread of COVID-19 among inmates like others seen around the country, such as transferring some non-dangerous inmates to home confinement, suspending incarcerations for technical parole violations, providing adequate cleaning supplies and personal protective equipment to facilities for sanitation, providing free and frequent phone calls to inmates now unable to have visitors, as well as daily health checks and more.

https://www.postbulletin.com/news/politics/groups-plead-for-walz-to-take-action-to-prevent-prison-covid-19-outbreak/article_a569fc72-836c-11ea-a6d8-370906201525.html