Calls grow for inmate releases as COVID-19 caseloads climb in jails and prisons
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People in tightly-packed living facilities are already more vulnerable to outbreaks, and the methods used in corrections to mitigate those risks — such as prolonged lockdowns or time in segregation — are inhumane, said Martha Paynter, a registered nurse and chair of Wellness Within, a group advocating for health equity in Nova Scotia.
Staff also risk contracting the virus in these facilities and spreading it in the community, she said. "Really, we've gotten ourselves into an untenable, unjustifiable and just purely unethical situation," Paynter said in an interview Tuesday.
"It comes back to what we've been saying for two years now, which is the only solution is decarceration."
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For Paynter, "decarceration" involves granting early parole to inmates held in federal institutions. Many people in provincial jails are on remand awaiting trial, and that process could be accelerated, she said.
For those who have been sentenced, she said, justice departments could find safe community alternatives, like house arrest.
"Number one, stop putting people in jail," Paynter said. "Stop taking people into custody over petty bail violations, probation violations, et cetera."
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