April 27, 2020: New York, New York
Today, the Release Aging People in Prison Campaign, Parole Preparation Project, #HALTsolitary Campaign, VOCAL-NY, Worth Rises, and Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club released the following statement in response to news that two more people at Fishkill Correctional Facility have died with COVID-19:
“Two more people at Fishkill Correctional Facility have died with COVID-19 because Governor Cuomo refuses to value the lives of incarcerated New Yorkers. It is clear that Cuomo’s prisons cannot stop COVID-19’s spread or the harm it inflicts on people behind bars. Fishkill and Sing Sing Correctional Facilities have more COVID cases than all other prisons in New York State. They also account for 7 of the 9 COVID related deaths of incarcerated people that have happened thus far. These tragedies are further proof that the only way for Cuomo to adequately respond to the presence of COVID-19 in New York State prisons is by granting broad clemencies to vulnerable incarcerated people and reducing the overall prison population.”