COVID-19

201 | The COVID Prison Project

This week, we broadcast updates on a riot in Macon State Prison, and two calls from mothers of prisoners at Westville Correctional Facility. After a rebellion by prisoners on April 22, over a dozen prisoners have been moved to a new segregation unit and are being subjected to a variety of tortures and abuse. The…

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196 | The Deepening Crisis

Across the country, politicians and businessmen are calling for the economy to reopen, regardless of the consequences.  At the exact same time, the corona virus is spreading nearly uncontrolled inside America’s prisons and jails, with concentrations of infections spiking from Rikers Island in NY to the Marion Correctional Facility in Ohio, where 73% of prisoners…

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195 | Breaking the Rules to Survive

For this week’s episode, we continue airing messages about the coronavirus from prisoners around the country. You can call in on behalf of a loved one, or they can call in to record a message at (765) 343-6236. This week, we hear from prisoners in Wisconsin, Louisiana, Indiana, Illinois and Ohio about how the coronavirus…

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194 | Free Them Now: Protests and Planning in the Face of COVID-19

This week, we continue our coverage of the pandemic’s impact on prisoners across the country.  A COVID-19 uprising broke out in Washington state this week.  On April 8, 100 prisoners refused to comply with orders to disperse a protest, and were attacked by so-called “less lethal weapons” like rubber bullets and pepper spray.  They had…

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193 | The Guys in Here are Terrified: More Updates on the Coronavirus Pandemic in Prison

Prisoners across the US, and the world, face terrifying prospects as COVID-19 spreads almost uncontrolled inside the prison walls. It’s now or never as they and their loved ones struggle for their release, for adequate sanitation inside, and to self-organize pandemic response in the absence of serious measures by guards and administrators. We hear from…

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192 | Coronavirus Dispatches From the Prisons

This week, we continue to air urgent messages from people on the impact of the coronavirus on prisoners around the world and closer to home. We start off with a call from a prisoner at Waupun Correctional, in Wisconsin, where an outbreak of COVID-19 has been reported. We share a statement from someone in Brazil…

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191 | COVID-19 Updates From the Inside

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to change life on the outside for people all over the world, the prison population stands to suffer immensely in these times. Last week, we spoke to someone in Italy, who described the riots and protests inside and outside the prisons in areas around that country. This week, we are…

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190 | Red Zone: Prison Revolts Across Italy in the Wake of COVID-19

The entire country of Italy is now a “red zone,” not quite quarantined, but facing serious restrictions to movement and public gathering due to the coronavirus. Prisoners were told that they would lose all family visitation, even though the Justice Ministry was not taking any other steps to offer them medical care or prevent transmission…

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