ReleaseWire Connect

The new stimulus payout proposal recently stalled in the senate, and hospitals around the country are overwhelmed with new Covid-19 cases. As Americans look around the country; they discover that the impact of the virus is far from over. Prisons are no different. This country's prisons, jails, and work camps hold millions of Americans. Most of which are sick elderly or non- violent. Incarcerated people are exposed to this virus just like everyone else around the world. The difference however, is that incarcerated people receive little to no medical care. They are not allowed to posses alcohol based hand sanitizer, and have no hope of practicing social distancing. For incarcerated people with underlying conditions; The Covid-19 pandemic has turned their conviction into a death sentence.

This holiday season marks the beginning of a national movement. Local leaders soon to offer opportunities to those who need it the most, in hopes to recover from the financial burden caused by the Coronavirus pandemic. There is no argument that prisoners, ex-felons and people in lower income communities are deprived of meaningful income opportunities. Likewise, there is no argument that people in these underprivileged communities are the most affected by the financial impact caused by COVID-19. Hope is on its way, for a number of those affected, from the least likely of places.

On December 9, 2020, The United States Department of Justice filed suit against The Alabama Department of Corrections and The State Of Alabama. The factual basis of the suit alleges that the conditions in Alabama's prisons are unconstitutional because the state fails to provide adequate protection from prisoner-on-prisoner violence and sexual abuse. The complaint goes on to claim that the state fails to provide safe and sanitary conditions, and subjects prisoners to excessive force at the hands of prison staff. Pastor Kenneth Sharpton-Glasgow says that he is "shocked, but well pleased that the DOJ is finally taking action."