ACLU of Connecticut Reaction to First Positive COVID-19 Test of an Adult Incarcerated in Connecticut

HARTFORD, Conn. – The Connecticut Department of Correction today announced that a man who is incarcerated at Corrigan-Radgowski Correctional Center tested positive for COVID-19. The positive test comes after a Department of Correction worker at the same facility tested positive for COVID-19 last week.

The following is a reaction from Melvin Medina, ACLU of Connecticut public policy and advocacy director: “COVID-19 is a dangerous and deadly freight train, and right now it is careening toward Connecticut prisons and jails without any brakes. It is up to Governor Lamont to move as many incarcerated people as possible out of that train’s path by announcing a thoughtful plan for compassionate release, now. Incarcerated people’s loved ones, including the family members of people incarcerated at Corrigan-Radgowski, have been pleading with Governor Lamont for weeks, asking him to thoughtfully release people to protect them from COVID-19. The longer Governor Lamont refuses to listen, the longer he is unnecessarily placing incarcerated people in harm’s way.”

The following is a reaction from David McGuire, ACLU of Connecticut executive director: “Connecticut residents, including incarcerated people’s loved ones, formerly incarcerated people, doctors, public health experts, advocates, and lawyers, have all told Governor Lamont that he must issue a thoughtful plan to release incarcerated people in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. People cannot socially distance themselves in prisons and jails. The Department of Correction is unable to meet medical needs during normal times, and it is not going to be able to protect people in a pandemic. The ACLU of Connecticut is committed to using every tool at our disposal to require Lamont and the DOC to protect incarcerated people from COVID-19.”

For the ACLU of Connecticut’s previous statements, letters, and legal action regarding releasing people who are incarcerated in Connecticut to protect them from COVID-19: https://www.acluct.org/en/aclu-connecticut-covid-19-response