Push on to release inmates; Vermonters to track vaccinations

PUSH ON TO RELEASE INMATES; VERMONTERS TO TRACK VACCINATIONS

Dec 25, 2020
The Associated Press

BOSTON (AP) — A look at coronavirus developments in New England:

MASSACHUSETTS

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.

Prisoners’ Legal Services also said four prisons — MCI-Norfolk, MCI-Shirley, NCCI Gardner and MCI Concord — account for nearly all of the more than 1,000 new cases of the virus in the correctional system since Oct. 29.

Continue reading…