ADD YOUR NAME TO URGE GOVERNOR HOGAN & LOCAL COUNTY EXECUTIVES TO TAKE THE FOLLOWING ACTIONS:

- Immediately release of any person who tests positive for COVID-19 to a medical care facility, away from the rest of the incarcerated population 

- Immediately identify medically vulnerable people in the general population and specifically in the pre-trial population, then coordinate with the State's Attorney's Office and the Public Defender's Office to petition the court for their immediate release. This includes, but is not limited to, people age 55 and older, pregnant people, people with chronic lung conditions such as COPD, hepatitis C, HIV, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and/or cardiac disease who will be most vulnerable to COVID-19 infection 

- Develop and implement testing protocols for all people who live, work and visit inside jails 

- Immediately implement a preparation plan that includes the frequent and deeper cleaning of transportation vehicles, facilities, clothing, and bedding in all shared and private spaces, as well as the use of more effective disinfectants. 

- Reinstate access to visiting and guarantee access to phone calls, mail and court hearings.

- Halt new admissions to every correctional unit within the state's purview, including prisons - to this end, Governor Hogan and Local County Executive's should direct state law and local enforcement and prosecutors to limit arrests, charges and pre-trial detention except where there is an imminent risk to public safety and to seek case resolutions avoiding incarceration.

- Support people who are released including working directly with Continuums of Care to expedite rehousing people upon reentry into rapid rehousing, permanent housing, permanent supportive housing, and providing funding to support other programs.

-Temporarily Increase capacity of community supervision and make conditions of supervision more compatible with CDC recommendation

For those who remain incarcerated, improve safety conditions. Take the recommendations of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, School of Nursing and School of Medicine faculty, specifically: 

Make your plan for prevention and management of COVID-19 in state correctional facilities publicly available by facility; 

Have health professionals conduct health screenings based on the CDC guidelines, instead of asking untrained correctional officers to take the temperatures of inmates and staff and ensure speedy access to medical staff;

Suspend the prohibition on hand sanitizer and provide more and better hygiene supplies than two small bars of soap. Unlimited cleaning supplies should be freely available to all inmates and staff; 

Develop and implement a nonpunitive plan for quarantining those suspected of infection or exposure and access to care for those requiring critical care; 

Expand access to video calling and increase free phone calls; 

Ensure availability of personal protective equipment; and 

Use common-sense precautions to limit transmission within facilities without relying on lockdowns and solitary confinement. This should include preventing individuals who are not otherwise exposed to the virus from being assigned to COVID-19 compromised locations, through work release or other relocation measures. Moreover, individuals should not be penalized for refusing work or relocation to COVID-19 compromised areas.