BALTIMORE (AP) - Baltimore’s state’s attorney is reviewing whether to release older prisoners with medical conditions that make them vulnerable to COVID-19.
Marilyn Mosby announced Monday that she’s hired Becky Feldman, a former deputy public defender, to lead the review, The Baltimore Sun reported.
Any inmate sent to state prison from Baltimore who applies for a review must have a documented medical condition, be older than 60, and have served at least 25 years in prison on a life sentence or for a crime committed before the age of 18.
If an inmate meets those conditions, the office will file a petition for release based on an April court order from Maryland Chief Judge Mary Ellen Barbera. That order instructs trial courts to identify and release inmates who are vulnerable to the virus and don’t pose a risk to public safety. More than 1,000 prisoners in Maryland have contracted the coronavirus, and officials said last month that 13 have died.
Each review will consider the facts of the case, the inmate’s remorse and the feelings of the victim and their families.
Mosby said she also wants to address the number of Black men and women who are in prisons. “Prosecutors historically have played a role and contributed to the epidemic of mass incarceration and racial inequality,” she said. “We also have a responsibility to right that wrong.”
Mosby’s office secured the July release of Calvin McNeill, a 56-year-old man who was serving a life sentence for a dice game robbery and murder committed while he was a teen.
“There is so much humanity, talent and kindness behind prison walls, and we cannot give up on people just because they are behind bars,” said Feldman.
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