Advocates call for COVID-19 protections for Minnesota prisoners

Nearly 35% of Minnesota prisoners tested positive for COVID-19 last week

Feb 03, 20220

Leila Navidi, Star Tribune count

Minnesota Department of Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell spoke during a meeting of the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission at the Minnesota Judicial Center in St. Paul in January 2020.

A prisoner advocacy group called on Minnesota corrections officials Wednesday to reinstate an early release policy for inmates with medical conditions that make them vulnerable to COVID-19 complications.

At the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, the state Department of Corrections said it would implement the program for those at "grave risk" of COVID-19, including those who did not previously qualify for the agency's conditional medical release policy.

The program was discontinued after COVID-19 vaccines were approved and introduced to the prison population. Of nearly 2,300 prisoners who applied for release, only 158 qualified.

https://www.startribune.com/advocates-call-for-covid-19-protections-for-minnesota-prisoners/600142437/