BOURNE – “Several inmate rights groups that included the ACLU, Prisoner Legal Services and the Committee for Public Counsel Service (Boston) filed a lawsuit with the State Supreme Judicial Court claiming that inmates should be released from jails because of the COVID-19 virus. They claimed that jails would be a “Petri dish” and inmates would not be safe and predicted large numbers of inmate deaths to occur if the inmates were not released.
The Sheriffs responded to the Court that they were already effectively dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and opposed the release of inmates to the public. Simply stated, the Massachusetts Sheriffs know best how to run their jails and these prisoner rights groups do not. Unfortunately, the Court allowed some inmates released and as the result of the lawsuit the crime rate is rising and public safety is decreasing.
Despite the dire prediction from the prisoner rights groups, the Sheriffs have done an excellent job at protecting the inmates under their care from the COVID-19 virus. The attached data speaks for itself.”
