The American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut reached a settlement agreement with the state to better protect incarcerated people from COVID-19.
David McGuire, executive director of ACLU of Connecticut, said the agreement will create a panel of five experts to review ongoing COVID-19 protocols for prisons. It will also require the state Department of Correction to identify inmates 65 and older who should be released due to health risks.
“One thing significantly that we did not get, that we were really striving for, is a meaningful and thoughtful plan to release more people from the prison system and also prevent the population in the prison from swelling back up.”
But Maguire said the agreement is a start.
“We know the COVID-19 is still a very real risk in the Department of Correction and across the state. Realistically, we need to get the numbers down even more, so we have called on the legislature to convene a special session to focus on a number of COVID-19-related issues including the pandemic response in the Department of Correction and the lack of meaningful releases.”
McGuire said a federal judge must approve the lawsuit settlement agreement.
