Prisoners Plea for Release, Protection Amid Skyrocketing Infection Rates

U.S. Attorney General William Barr issued an emergency order Friday calling for the release of vulnerable federal prisoners into home confinement amid the coronavirus crisis.

This news comes as at least 16 states have also released prisoners. DN looks at the treatment of incarcerated people in New York state, where Governor Andrew Cuomo has yet to grant anyone freedom despite at least 24 confirmed cases among state prisoners.

Meanwhile, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has said he'll release about 300 people from Rikers Island and other city jails, but advocates are calling for far more to be freed.

Democracy Now! speaks to José Diaz, a New York University graduate student who was just released from Rikers on Saturday morning. We also speak with José Saldana, director of the group Releasing Aging People in Prison.

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