PHOENIX (AP) - As the coronavirus surfaces in Arizona prisons, advocates for inmates worry that they are running out of time to persuade Gov. Doug Ducey to avoid a larger outbreak by releasing some of the 42,000 people who live in close quarters behind bars.
The Republican governor has insisted he won’t free prisoners in response to the pandemic, even as other states are reducing prison populations to increase social distancing behind bars. Authorities across Arizona have released at least 300 nonviolent inmates from county jails.
The urgency to release inmates rises each day as prison conditions worsen and the legal and political establishment moves too slowly to free medically vulnerable prisoners who could end up dying from the virus, said Joe Watson, a spokesman for the American Friends Service Committee-Arizona, which advocates for an end to mass incarceration.
“Why do you think it’s OK to sentence folks to death who weren’t sentenced to death when they were sent to prison?” Watson asked, suggesting elected officials might not want to risk their tough-on-crime reputations with voters by freeing inmates.
Ducey hasn’t explained why he won’t release inmates. No further details on his stance have been supplied by his office.
Corrections officials have said they’re separating inmates with flu-like symptoms from the general prison population, providing soap to inmates for cleaning housing areas and good hygiene and waiving a $4 medical co-payment inmates must pay for receiving treatment for cold and flu symptoms. The officials have said their top priority is the health and safety of staff, inmates and the communities they serve.
With COVID-19 cases expected to peak in Arizona within two weeks, 22 state prison inmates have tested positive for the virus. A Maricopa County juvenile detention officer who contracted the virus has died. Prison employees have tested positive, but officials declined to say how many.
Meanwhile, the only case so far in county jails in Arizona was reported Friday when Coconino County authorities said a suspect in jail in Page tested positive for the virus. No cases have been reported among employees at any county jails.
Of the 300 county jail inmates released as part of prevention efforts, Maricopa County released the most with 159, followed by Coconino County with 100 and Pima County with 28, according to an informal survey by The Associated Press. Lower numbers of inmates were released from jails in Graham, Gila, Mohave and Santa Cruz counties.
In addition, courts temporarily suspended the sentences of Maricopa County inmates who were allowed to leave lockups during the day to go to work. Some probation violators in Mohave County and child support offenders in Gila County were also released. In addition, nonviolent crime suspects have been cited and released instead of being arrested.
Authorities have said they’re taking unprecedented steps in response to the pandemic, not turning a blind eye to crime. Suspects in killings, assaults and other violent acts remain detained.
Lawyers for inmates maintain prisons are unprepared, saying inmates have been given inadequate cleaning supplies and that prison health care operations suffer from staffing shortages and limited infirmary space.
Tom Bearup, whose son Patrick is on Arizona’s death row, said his son has been sick for more than a week and learned on Friday that he tested positive for the virus. His son is housed at the state prison in Florence, which has the highest number of cases among state prisons.
“We, as a society, have a responsibility to provide quality medical care,” Bearup said. “It doesn’t mean you send them to the Mayo Clinic. But they have to have quality medical care and clean sanitary conditions. And from what Patrick told me, that’s not happening where he is at.”
Patrick Bearup was convicted of murder in the 2002 killing of 40-year-old Mark Mathes.
Pima County Sheriff Mark Napier said he has no misgivings about housing fewer inmates.
“These are unique times that require nontraditional thought,” he said.
Democratic Rep. Diego Rodriguez is seeking furloughs of inmates age 60 and over who have serious health problems. By refusing to release inmates, Ducey is taking a calculated risk because inmates could end up getting sick in large numbers and dying, Rodriguez said.
If the virus hits hard, “I don’t think they will have another choice, especially when other states are doing it,” Rodriguez said.
Arizona has more than 4,500 cases of the virus, with 169 deaths.
For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death. The vast majority of people recover.
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