By Emma Stark
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
The Baltimore City Council decided Monday to support a request to release certain nonviolent inmates in Maryland correctional facilities until health officials have stopped or contained the spread of COVID-19.
“For the purpose of supporting the American Civil Liberties Union’s recommendation that the state release certain inmates from jail and prison due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Caylin Young, director of Legislative Affairs, reading off the meeting’s agenda.
The ACLU of Maryland last week filed an emergency court petition asking the Maryland Court of Appeals to guide officials around the state to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in places of detention. They asked for a reduction in the number of inmates too. Among the charges in the petition, officials alleged “Maryland has failed almost completely to act in any coordinated way to prevent COVID-19 from spreading rapidly through correctional facilities and overwhelming medical resources in nearby communities.”
President Brandon Scott stressed during the virtual meeting of the City Council that inmates who face possible release must be low risk and non-violent. Another stipulation is that the inmates must be scheduled to get out within the next year, are elderly and/or being held because of technical supervision violations.
Scott said the close quarters of prisons and jails make it difficult to follow the 6 feet apart guidelines. The inmates who would potentially be eligible for release would be those who met the guidelines in combination with the other factors, especially those particularly vulnerable to the COVID-19.
“We know that close quarters in prisons and jails make it difficult, if not impossible, to adhere to the social distancing guidelines,” Scott said.
Baltimore would not be the first area to release low risk inmates from prisons and jails. Louisiana, Connecticut, Ohio and North Carolina have taken similar precautions. The U.S. Bureau of Prisons has confirmed 241 confirmed cases of coronavirus among federal inmates, and 73 among bureau staff in a total of 37 facilities. Eight inmates have died. In Maryland, officials report a total of 93 confirmed cases in the correctional system.
Councilman Leon F. Pinkett III of District 7, voted “yes” on the resolution but expressed his worries about releasing inmates without giving them the help they may need to get back on their feet. If the point of release was to minimize the risk of catching COVID-19, releasing them into high risk areas, such as the zip code areas of 21217, would be pointless.
“If we don’t have the proper resources in place, we are sending those individuals right into the hotspots of COVID-19,” said Pinkett.
In other action, Councilman Bill Henry of District 4 called for the city to shelter all homeless people who need a place to stay. Henry said that about $100 million has been made available to help cities with pandemic measures, resources not previously budgeted. He said hotel rooms could be set aside not only for the homeless but for the released inmates as well.
The resolution was immediately adopted on a unanimous 14-0 vote.
The council assigned to the Judiciary Committee an ordinance that would make it a misdemeanor to make “false statements” or impersonate a city official during a declared state of emergency. Officials explained that scammers have emailed people claiming to be from a local hospital and offering them a COVID-19 vaccine for a price.
“When you have a crisis like this, you have to understand that people who are evil take every opportunity to wrong people,” Scott said.
Other COVID-19 related topics approved by the City Council included:
- A resolution to better the digital divide for students.
- A resolution for essential business and the public following social distancing measures and wearing masks.