​CRIMINALIZATION AND INCARCERATION ARE NOT PUBLIC HEALTHCARE SOLUTIONS!  
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Following Governor Ducey’s declaration of a state of emergency on Wednesday, March 11, 2020 due to the increasing number of confirmed COVID-19 cases, community groups in Arizona are demanding a humane and urgent response from federal, state and local officials to prevent and contain the spread of COVID-19 within state prisons, local jails, detention centers, as well as in the communities we live.

Thousands of incarcerated people being caged together in small spaces with no real options for quarantine are far more susceptible to the COVID-19 pandemic than most other populations. Due to substandard medical care, incarcerated people suffer disproportionately from chronic health conditions that make them more vulnerable to the virus which will have disastrous effects. COVID-19 outbreaks in prisons and jails are a risk to the entire community. To slow the cycle of people in and out of jail, we must drastically reduce jail and detention center admissions. Less people in jails and detention centers is a definite way to prevent the spread of disease. Public officials must reduce the prison, jail, and detention center’s population size to ensure cells are not shared, there are sufficient medical beds for anyone who may need one, and adequate numbers of prison staff to ensure safety for staff, those incarcerated, and visitors. And for those currently in prison, the only public health solution is RELEASE! Arizona cannot afford a failed response to COVID-19!

INCARCERATION IS NOT A PUBLIC HEALTHCARE SOLUTION
Within state prisons, local jails, and detention centers, we demand:

• Transparency
• Release of vulnerable people
• Safe conditions of confinement
• Quality healthcare
• Access to sufficient and affordable services

TRANSPARENCY

• Release to the public the existing plan and procedures in place to address COVID-19 within state and federal prisons, jails, and detention centers.
• Provide regular daily public updates on the number of cases, any fatalities and names of those who are ill to family and friends of those in custody so that loved ones will have accurate, up to date information about the health of their incarcerated loved ones.
• Deliver information to incarcerated people. Information about COVID-19 should be provided in writing and by other means (including braille) since many prisoners are not fully literate or do not primarily communicate in English, and it is imperative that each and every incarcerated individual fully understand and apply the necessary preventative measures. In many cases, it will be necessary to translate and interpret information, particularly for those being held in immigrant detention.
• The collection of data regarding COVID-19 will be part of the public health response. As with any contagious disease, data collection is critical to understanding and fighting the virus. The prison system must be part of this process. The same information that is tracked in the community must be tracked in the prisons and made public.

RELEASE OF VULNERABLE PEOPLE 

• As a preventative measure, use all available powers, including executive clemency, to let people particularly vulnerable (older people, those with chronic illnesses, pregnant people, those with asthma, cancer, heart disease, lung disease, and diabetes etc) go home to the care of their families by commuting their sentence.
• Release trans and gender non-binary people from jails, detention centers, and prisons.
• Release all people detained in ICE facilities in Arizona, giving priority to people who are LGBTQ+, over 50 years old, or have chronic conditions.
• Suspend new detentions of suspected non-citizens.
• Release persons in prisons and jails who are within 6 months of completing their sentence and assist those people with transitional plans.
• Require the Executive Board of Clemency expedite the release of those who are currently awaiting violation hearings and parole hearings.
• Expedite all release related hearings. Do not suspend acceptance of new applications.
• Release and stop jailing anyone charged with an offense that does not involve a risk of serious physical injury to a reasonably identifiable person. This includes technical violations of parole or probation, regardless of the underlying offense, including failures to appear. Penalizing people for failing to appear is going to lead to people going to court, probation, and parole offices when sick.
• Do not increase community supervision or ankle shackling as a substitution for in-person custody.
• Release anyone who is currently being held pretrial with a monetary condition of release.

SAFE CONDITIONS OF CONFINEMENT 

• Provide soap, CDC-recommended hand sanitizer, medical care, comprehensive sanitation and cleaning of facilities and other safety measures as recommended by the CDC for those who remain incarcerated free of charge.
• There must be ready access to warm water and adequate hygiene supplies (soap, masks, etc.) for all prisoners, including indigent prisoners, both for frequent handwashing and for cleaning. Prisons and jails should temporarily allow alcohol-based hand sanitizer to be used by prisoners, and hand sanitizer should be readily available in common areas of each prison and jail.
• Alcohol-based sanitizer should be readily available in all food handling areas and in the dining areas for both staff and incarcerated people
• Showers and bathrooms should be cleaned with bleach, which is very effective at stopping the spread of COVID-19
• Increase the limit of hygiene items for purchase on commissary and do not penalize anyone for sharing resources
• Do not issue LOP (loss of privilege) disciplinary sanctions and restore everyone who is currently on LOP
• Eliminate requirements for incarcerated workers to perform tasks that put them at risk of contracting the disease and allow them to opt-out (waste management, handling corpses/digging graves, etc).
• Provide all people being detained with appropriate protective gear (i.e. disposable gloves, coveralls, and masks).
• Put an end to forced labor & institute a living wage for incarcerated people who are working.
• Regardless of how many prison staff stay home because they are sick, the prisons will have to continue functioning. There must be a plan for how necessary functions and services will continue if large numbers of staff are out with the virus.
• Stop cross-level assignments for staff to minimize the number of incarcerated people with whom any one staff member can come in contact
• Do not suspend movement/transfers for incarcerated people who are situated in temporary living quarters (i.e. intake, dry cell, suicide watch, etc). Take the necessary precautions to move those individuals to stable and equitable housing or ensure people in temporary housing situations have access to all of the features of permanent housing (phone calls, commissary, property, etc)
• At no point should any facility be on lockdown. Ensure families and lawyers have access to regular communications channels with incarcerated loved ones or clients, including but not limited to phone calls, email, video conferencing, postage mail.

QUALITY HEALTHCARE 

• When an outbreak happens inside prison, jail or detention center walls, it is imperative that federal, state, and local officials uphold the dignity and humanity of the people who remain confined.
• Release incarcerated people who test positive to an external healthcare facility to receive care.
• Do not use extended solitary confinement as a substitution for providing people in prison who are exposed to COVID-19 with proper medical care.
• Designate or provide separate bathrooms for use by people who are symptomatic.
• Eliminate co-pays for incarcerated healthcare.
• Provide additional precautions for those who are at high risk of serious illness, such as pregnant people and people with chronic illnesses, compromised immune systems, or disabilities, and people whose housing placements restrict their access to medical care and limit the staff’s ability to observe them.
• Courses of treatment must be evidence-based, available immediately, and in compliance with scientifically-based public health protocols. In addition, jails and prisons should cease charging medical co-pays, including fees for sick slips, which could discourage early detection of COVID-19.

ACCESS TO SUFFICIENT AND AFFORDABLE SERVICES 
Federal, State, and Local agencies in coordination with contracted prison industry corporations they work with MUST come together with a plan to do the following:

• Commissary Providers: In order to ensure that all people have access to items that maintain the health and welfare of the people in prisons/jails, commissaries should:Prison Healthcare Companies:
  • Waive all medical co-pays
  • Provide adequate medical care including fully staffing medical units.
• Telecom Companies: In order to maintain the relationships between people in prison/jail and their loved ones, and keep people informed about the development of the virus and the wellbeing of their loved ones, all telecom services should:
  • Make all communications free of of charge, including phone calls, emails, and video conferencing
  • Do not limit the number of phone calls, emails, and video conferencing.
  • Provide free access to news sources to keep people informed about the development of the virus and the wellbeing of their loved ones
• Financial Services Companies: In order to facilitate the safety and well-being of those in custody and those released,  all financial services should:
  • Eliminate all transfer and transaction fees associated with individual accounts
  • Remove limits on the number and amount of deposits or transfers to individual accounts
  • Expedite transactions related to communications (including media time) and commissary to ensure incarcerated people have access to their loved ones and the supplies they need
  • Remove all transaction, maintenance, and usage fees associated with prepaid debit release cards.
• Commissary Providers: In order to ensure that all people have access to items that maintain the health and welfare of the people in prisons/jails, commissaries should:
  • Eliminate mark-ups of all items
  • Remove limits on the number and amount of deposits or transfers to individual commissary accounts
  • Eliminate all transfer and transaction fees associated with individual commissary accounts
  • Expedite money order transfers into commissary accounts
• ADOC Central Office “Inmate Banking:
  • Grant and expedite ALL requests to send money from “spendable” and “retention” accounts to family members (not just immediate), primary caretakers, and providers of support services OF ANY KIND based on COVID-19 “emergency”

CRIMINALIZATION IS NOT A PUBLIC HEALTH SOLUTION! 
ICE, PROSECUTORS, SHERIFF AND POLICE MUST STAND DOWN

Within our communities, LGBTQIA, Black, indigenious, immigrant, young, differently abled, and poor people already face increased criminalization. State and local officials must not abuse public health orders to further criminalize our communities as they work hard to survive this pandemic.

• We demand no new criminal bookings, charges, or detention.
• Stop all ICE enforcement and removal operations.
• In the event of emergency lockdown/quarantine, there should not be a criminal punishment for breaching emergency quarantine protocols, failing to disclose COVID-19 symptoms, nor for potentially exposing others to the virus.
• There should not be any criminal penalties for acts of survival such as taking supplies or resources that are needed.

​The Coronovirus WILL enter the jails, detention centers, and prisons. It is the strict responsibility of the following officials, many of whom were elected, to take immediate and decisive action to save lives:
Governor Ducey
Mayor Gallego
Ice Field Director Lucero
Director of Corrections Shinn
Maricopa County Attorney Adel
Pima County Attorney LaWall
Sheriff Penzone
Phoenix Police Chief Williams

We demand action NOW!