Advocates push to release Massachusetts inmates to home confinement amid coronavirus outbreak

Dec 26, 2020
MassLive, The Associated Press

Prisoner advocates in Massachusetts are redoubling their legal efforts to release inmates from state prisons because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Prisoners’ Legal Services of Massachusetts argued in a Suffolk Superior Court filing Thursday that the state Department of Correction needs to release inmates to home confinement, furlough, medical parole and other legal measures so that the remaining prisoners can safely socially distance behind bars.

The organization submitted accounts from roughly 40 inmates about crowded conditions in state prisons and their fears of contracting COVID-19 to bolster their appeal.