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Julie Magers is looking for answers to her questions about COVID-19 procedure and oversight in Maryland detention facilities.
She also wants to know where her clients held at Roxbury Correctional Institution in Hagerstown are being whisked away to in the dead of night.
Magers, the director of the Maryland Prisoners鈥� Rights Coalition, said that she has had multiple clients exhibiting symptoms consistent with COVID-19 removed from the Hagerstown facility overnight and transported to an undisclosed location.
As of Thursday, Roxbury Correctional Institution had not reported any confirmed cases of coronavirus.
An adjacent facility on Roxbury Road in Hagerstown, the Maryland Correctional Training Center, had confirmed two correctional officers were struck ill.聽Maryland Correctional Institution-Hagerstown, another neighboring facility, has also not confirmed a case.
Magers expressed concern about the number of individuals she鈥檚 heard from who have seen noticeably sick or quarantined inmates at Roxbury, especially considering that the facility has no reported cases.
鈥淚t is inconceivable that an entire facility that shares鈥� so much of its staff and property with other prisons 鈥渃ould come out completely unscathed,鈥� she said.
Maryland Matters聽reached out to the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services to inquire about Magers鈥� reports but has yet to receive a response.
Magers has observed that throughout the state correctional system, no one facility is adopting the same procedure as another when it comes to COVID-19 鈥� from personal protective equipment distribution to critical care for inmates facing other health problems.
鈥淭he one trend that seems to be consistent is the inconsistency,鈥� she said.
Magers isn鈥檛 alone in her quest for answers.
Last week, a number of advocacy organizations聽聽to Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr (R), requesting that the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services publish individual COVID-19 plans for each facility.
To this point, no response plans have been made publicly available.
Some lawmakers are starting to take problems into their own hands, but are facing difficulties getting information or figuring out where to direct their inquiries.
鈥淕enerally, no one wants to take the lead,鈥� said Del. Debra Davis (D-Charles). 鈥淭hat is my opinion.鈥�
Davis said that her office started to get a flood of inquiries from constituents about measures being taken inside state and county detention centers. She said that this is especially pertinent in Charles County, which has no pretrial services, meaning people who are arrested are automatically taken to jail, regardless of the circumstances.
鈥淭here are no diversion 鈥� no inherent diversion procedures right now in our county,鈥� she said.
Davis wrote a letter co-signed by the rest of the Charles County Delegation to her county sheriff and state鈥檚 attorney asking them to consider releasing inmates detained for low-level offenses,聽outlining four 鈥渆xcellent examples鈥� of individuals who could be immediately released聽and聽citing instances across the state where state鈥檚 attorneys鈥� offices have already adopted those policies.
Additionally, the Charles County lawmakers聽requested that local law enforcement authorities limit arrests and share their emergency COVID-19 plans.
She said she received a defensive response from Charles County State鈥檚 Attorney Anthony B. Covington (D).
鈥淲hile I sincerely appreciate the Delegation鈥檚 concerns expressed in that letter, I am compelled to take exception,鈥� Covington wrote, stating that their inquiry implies his office 鈥渋s calloused, uncaring or indifferent to the point of casually putting lives at risk.鈥�
Davis said she was discouraged by the pushback.
鈥淎ll we did was ask for a plan so that we can share it with our constituents 鈥� which are also their constituents,鈥� she said.
A revealing letter
Earlier this month, Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee Chairman William C. Smith Jr (D-Montgomery) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Luke H. Clippinger (D-Baltimore City) penned a letter to Robert L. Green, Maryland鈥檚 Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services secretary, asking questions at the forefront of minds of committee members like Davis.
Smith told聽Maryland Matters聽in an interview Wednesday that the letter was an example of the 鈥渃ommittees coming together鈥� to uncover the 鈥済round truth鈥� of what is happening with the state鈥檚 incarcerated population during the pandemic.
Green responded to the inquiries late last week, opening with a list of measures that the department has taken to prevent and prepare for an outbreak, including:
- 聽and volunteer programs, opting instead for video visitation
- Limiting the movement of inmates throughout facilities to comply with social distancing guidelines
- Creating a 24-hour COVID-19 hotline for inmates鈥� family members
Lawmakers posed 17 questions to the department secretary. They received answers to most of them.鈥� Maryland鈥檚 focus is on maintaining good public health practices to 鈥榝latten the curve鈥� and to stand up and expand the state鈥檚 emergency response and medical care capacity to serve those in need,鈥� Green wrote.
Many of the General Assembly鈥檚 inquiries related to departmental procedure, including what happens when an inmate is released to the public.
According to Green鈥檚 response, when inmates are ready to be released, rather than being transferred to a facility closer to home, also known as a 鈥渞elease hub,鈥� they鈥檙e being let go directly from their holding facilities.
Inmates are screened for COVID-19, but not tested, upon their release.
Staff safety
Many people, including the governor, think that inmates are effectively quarantined because they are isolated in detention facilities.
At a March 19 news conference, Hogan聽said that the prison population is 鈥渒ind of protected and in quarantine,鈥� further suggesting that inmates are 鈥渟afer where they are.鈥�
Dr.聽Chris Beyrer of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health said that this isn鈥檛 the case, explaining at a virtual news conference last week that聽staff members often serve as the best vectors for the virus.
鈥淚t has been the detention facility staff 鈥� who have been most effective, particularly at the beginning, and who are the most likely people to bring this virus in to these detained populations,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat happened in Wuhan, that happened at Rikers [Island jail in New York City] and the early evidence is that that is happening in Maryland.鈥�
According to a Thursday news release from the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, there are 136 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across the department.
Fifty-three percent of those cases are correctional officers.
罢丑别听聽was the case of an inmate with preexisting conditions at Jessup Correctional Institution.
The legislative committees asked Green if there is testing protocol in place for facility staff.
Per his response, staff members are screened before entering each facility, and are sent away and told to follow-up with their health care provider if they have fevers or are feeling ill.
Green鈥檚 letter said that beginning the week of March 30, facility workers have been provided with gloves, plastic face shields and cloth masks.聽He wrote that every staff member had received and was expected to use each piece of equipment.
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees聽Maryland Council 3, the union that represents most corrections officers,聽issued a letter Tuesday to government leaders asking them to take action to protect state employees on the frontlines of the virus, including those who work in 24/7 care facilities like hospitals and detention centers.
The first demand on the union鈥檚 list: unrestricted access to personal protective equipment.
But according to a Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services daily operational report update dated March 23, staff members were 鈥渟trictly prohibited from reporting to work wearing a mask.鈥�
Stuart Katzenberg,聽director of collective bargaining and growth strategies for AFSCME Maryland Council 3, said that the department changed that policy only after receiving pressure from the union.
Even after the policy change, Katzenberg said what the state is doing isn鈥檛 good enough: the 鈥渟neeze guards鈥� made by inmates and provided by the department are the same polyester blend that correctional officers鈥� uniforms are made from; they are uncomfortable and don鈥檛 fit quite right.
鈥淎 one on a 10 scale isn鈥檛 good enough,鈥� he told聽Maryland Matters聽Thursday.
Adequate testing?
The legislative committees also asked about inmate screening for coronavirus and whether the department has access to an adequate number of tests.
鈥淭he Department utilizes a multidisciplinary vendor approach through contractual health care providers to treat the incarcerated population,鈥� Green replied.
He explained that when incarcerated individuals feel sick, they鈥檙e instructed to submit sick call slips, which are collected by a medical contractor. Inmates are then assessed by a registered nurse to be referred for clinical services.
Green wrote that nonemergency cases receive clinical services within 48 to 72 hours depending on the day they are submitted.
He said that 鈥渉igh risk鈥� inmates are monitored by licensed clinical providers 鈥渁round the clock.鈥�
Inmates who show symptoms consistent with COVID-19, like fever and shortness of breath, are given surgical masks and evaluated for other causes at the facility鈥檚 infirmary, Green added.聽Individuals who are presumed to have COVID-19 are moved to an off-site care facility for testing.
If they aren鈥檛 moved off-site, inmates are isolated in their holding facilities.聽Green said that some of the department鈥檚 prisons have respiratory airflow rooms and other isolated housing.
Once a symptomatic inmate is placed, the department begins the process of contact tracing to determine if other individuals who may have come into contact need to be quarantined, given personal protective equipment and monitored as they await the results of the COVID-19 test.
Green did not address whether the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services has access to an adequate number of tests for the people in its custody.
Maryland Matters聽reached out to the department to ask why this question went unanswered. A spokesman said the agency would have no further comment.
Clippinger said that, although he understands Green is facing a challenging task, lawmakers need to learn more about the agency鈥檚 testing capability.
鈥淭o be clear: There鈥檚 no doubt that the secretary has a huge job in front of him right now in trying to address this crisis with an incredibly challenging set of circumstances,鈥� Clippinger said, but lawmakers won鈥檛 be satisfied until they鈥檙e assured that people held in the department鈥檚 custody are receiving the services that they need.
鈥淚 think we need to know more in that area,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think that, especially in the correctional facilities, we need to know that tests are available, we need to know that people are being tested when they leave the facilities and we need to know that tests are available for people that are working in facilities.鈥�
