Breaking Out: How mass criminalization enabled the spread of the coronavirus in California prisons
Over the last year, as the coronavirus spread around the world, many individuals were able to confine themselves in their homes as a safety measure. In prisons across the United States however, thousands of incarcerated men and women were not as privileged. Instead, they were subjected to careless staff as well as communal bath, dining and sleeping areas.
In California state prisons, men and women behind bars have a one in five chance of contracting the coronavirus, which now totals 2,222 active cases and 46,728 cumulative cases at the time of publication.
With visitation canceled and an absence of furlough leave, men and women behind bars are isolated from the rest of the world. Prisons should have been one of the most exempt places in the world when it came to the spread of the coronavirus because inmates are contained in their dorms and contact is restricted amongst themselves.
However, during the initial spread of the coronavirus to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation during the week of March 22, the California prison system experienced a startling 300% positivity rate and a 375% positivity the following week. By the end of that month, there were over 8,000 cases; and by April, there were over 50,000 cases in California prisons alone. Some of the California prisons with the highest number of cases include San Quentin State Prison, Avenal State Prison, Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and CA Men’s Colony.
Since mid-December, inmates under the care of the CDCR have experienced a somewhat steady decrease of coronavirus cases, which are lowering by the hundreds each week.
In addition to the thousands of incarcerated men and women who have contracted the coronavirus, there are 1,321 active cases among CDCR staff.
Correctional officers are notorious for smuggling in cell phones, drugs and other illegal contraband that they distribute to prisoners without permission. After a recent surge of coronavirus cases within prisons, it is apparent that some officers also brought in the virus. With the lack of mobility and contact with the outside world among inmates, it becomes clear that the pandemic’s presence in California prisons can be traced back to CDCR staff, who are able to enter and leave the premises at will.
The CDCR spends hundreds of thousands of dollars securing their perimeter by setting their prison locations in a remote area, incorporating hundreds of layers of gates and setting up frequent officer-run checkpoints to prevent any misconduct by the inmates. During the 2020-21 fiscal year, Gov. Gavin Newsom allowed for a budget of $21.6 million to expand video surveillance and $21.4 million for staff development and new training in some California prisons.
However, what is the point of a 40-foot fence topped with barbed wire and a guard posted at a tower at all times if they can’t even contain a virus brought in from the outside? Some CDCR workers refused to wear masks on prison premises, and others failed to follow stay-at-home orders. There seems to be a lack of regulations to keep staff in their place.
Correctional officers’ careless behavior during the pandemic demonstrates their abundance of privilege and lack of regard toward inmates’ lives. Out of over 15,000 cumulative coronavirus cases in CDCR staff, some may have been accidental or the result of symptoms going unrecognized. However, staff should still be held accountable.
Additionally, some prisons did not allow incarcerated men and women to wear masks because they believed it would conceal their face, giving them anonymity that would allow them to get away with more crime. Prisons seem to care more about taking precautions against possible crime and believing the worst in people behind bars than taking measures to preserve their safety.
The CDCR has allowed 191 incarcerated men and women to die from the coronavirus in their care. Incarcerated people are not obsolete. They still grow old, fatigued and fall ill. But unlike the general population in the U.S., these inmates are unable to shelter in place and protect themselves when everything in prison is shared in such close quarters. With such dangerous living conditions and the inability to take proper precautions, sentences that would have eventually been lifted have unintentionally become death sentences.
On Dec. 22, the CDCR began administering the vaccine to staff and high-risk inmates with the intent to eventually offer the vaccine to the entire California prison population in three phases. To allow incarcerated men and women the opportunity to keep ties with their family during the pandemic, the CDCR has also implemented 30-minute video visits using Cisco Webex once a month for eligible inmates.
However, the efforts that have been made by the CDCR does not remedy the fact that 14 times more people have died from the coronavirus in their care than those executed by the death penalty in California since 1976. Nationwide, there have been over 2,200 incarcerated men and women who have died from the coronavirus, making California the fourth largest jurisdiction responsible for these deaths.
There is a lot that we can do as scholars, activists and simply just people on the other side of the fence. The most important thing we can do is to change the lens through which people see incarcerated citizens. We live in a time period where mass incarceration is at its peak, and with that comes mass criminalization. Prisons are not composed of deviants the way we are led to believe; instead, incarcerated men and women are people who live and work together as a community. They share triumphs and laughs, hardships and despair, just as any community does together.
Incarcerated men and women need allies because they have neither the platform nor connections to advocate for themselves. Inmates must be provided with the appropriate protection, health care and policies that will best support their lives. Crowded dormitories, poor ventilation, few medical checkups as well as shared dining and bathing areas are a recipe for the spread of a deadly virus.
We can support incarcerated men and women by listening to what they need and holding the criminal justice system accountable for the times that it fails them. We can expand awareness to make sure that their voices and their needs are heard. In prisons, there are men and women who are serving wrongful or unfair punishments or trying to make up for the damage they have done. We need to give them a place in our society, rather than carelessly neglecting them and their everyday struggles.
If we want the CDCR and the greater criminal justice system to do better, then we, too, have to do better leading by example and show them that the lives of incarcerated people matter.
Victoria Valenzuela is a junior writing about criminal justice and prison policies and reform. Her column, “Breaking Out,” runs every other Thursday.