Roughly 80 percent of Texas county jail inmates who have died after contracting COVID-19 were in pre-trial detention and had not been convicted of any crimes, according to a new report from the University of Texas at Austin.
Based on data on individuals in incarcerated facilities from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ), the university researchers found that of those who died from COVID-19 in a Texas county jail, 11 out of 14, or nearly 80 percent, had not received a conviction.
The report also noted that of those who died from the virus in Texas prisons, most were charged with “person offenses,” which include robbery, simple assault, sexual assault and murder.
ADVERTISEMENT
While the report noted that most people incarcerated in Texas prisons have been convicted of person offenses, this group makes up a disproportionately large share of those who died from COVID-19 when compared to those charged with other offenses.
According to the TDCJ data, 73 percent of COVID-19 deaths in Texas prisons were people convicted of person offenses, while they make up just 57 percent of the state prison population. About 10 percent of coronavirus deaths were those convicted of a drug offense, while 6 percent faced a property conviction and 11 percent were serving time for some other crime.
The university found that a total of at least 231 people have died from COVID-19 in the state’s correctional facilities. However, the researchers noted in the report that this number could likely be higher, as autopsies are sometimes conducted months after the inmate’s death. Some inmates also “died without ever having been tested for COVID.”
The researchers noted that those who had passed away due to a preexisting condition that was worsened by the virus were not counted in the total figure.
The report also only included data from state-operated prisons and county jails, and not coronavirus-related deaths that may have occurred at federal prisons or Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities in the state.
As of Thursday, the Texas Department of Health and Human Services has recorded a total of nearly 994,000 confirmed coronavirus cases, with more than 19,000 deaths.
ADVERTISEMENT
The rate of infection in Texas has also been increasing as many states are facing a second wave of the virus. On Thursday, Texas recorded 5,756 newly reported infections, as well as 143 fatalities.
The report on Texas prisons comes amid continued concern about the safety of correctional facilities across the country.
Last month, a California appeals court ordered the San Quentin state prison to reduce its population by 50 percent, with the court citing the prison’s “deliberate indifference” to the coronavirus pandemic’s effect on the prison population.
In its ruling, the court referred to San Quentin’s coronavirus outbreak as “the worst epidemiological disaster in California correctional history.” At the peak of the outbreak, nearly 75 percent of the inmate population had tested positive for the coronavirus and 28 prisoners had died, according to The Associated Press.
The outbreak reportedly occurred when infected prisoners were sent to San Quentin from another Southern California facility without being tested.
"had" - Google News
November 13, 2020 at 06:53AM
https://ift.tt/35qiyT2
80 percent of Texas inmates who died of COVID-19 had not been convicted of a crime: report | TheHill - The Hill
"had" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2KUBsq7
https://ift.tt/3c5pd6c
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "80 percent of Texas inmates who died of COVID-19 had not been convicted of a crime: report | TheHill - The Hill"
Post a Comment