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Rikers Island Prisoners Helped with Preparations to Bury the Coronavirus Dead
Loaded on May 1, 2020
published in Prison Legal News
May, 2020, page 34
Prisoners jailed with a conviction at New York’s Rikers Island were offered $6 an hour to dig mass graves at Hart Island, where more than 1 million mostly indigent city residents are already buried. In a city with decreasing space to bury the dead, Hart Island in the northeast …
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More from this issue:
- Coronavirus: A Nationwide Survey of the Push for Early Release as Pandemic Fears Grow, by Christopher Zoukis
- Early Prison Release for Gangsta Rapper Sped Up by Coronavirus, by Edward Lyon
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- Prioritizing Jails Over Hospitals Has Made Rural US More Vulnerable to COVID-19, by Jasmine Heiss, Jack Norton
- May Update: Protect Yourself and Your Facility from COVID-19, by Michael D. Cohen, MD
- Recent Exonerees Give the Public Advice on Being Locked Down: You Have No Idea, by Dale Chappell
- Lawsuit: Release Prisoners in Virus Tinderbox to Home Confinement, by David Reutter
- Prison Postcards: Prisoners Write About Fears, Incompetence, at Their Facilities, by Ken Silverstein
- Rikers Island Prisoners Helped with Preparations to Bury the Coronavirus Dead
- Federal Judge “Troubled” by Arizona Prison Director’s Response to Coronavirus; State Rep Calls it “Reckless”, by Dale Chappell
- California Publishes Use of Force in Prisons Report, by Anthony Accurso
- Connecticut Prisoners Win Lawsuit After Hepatitis Exposure, by Edward Lyon
- Nevada Prisoner Prevails in Good Time Deprivation Appeal, by Edward Lyon
- California Three-Judge Court Denies Emergency Motion to Reduce Prison Population During Pandemic, by Christopher Zoukis
- Federal Court Grants Default Summary Judgment in Favor of Indiana Prisoner as Sanction for State’s Lies, by Dale Chappell
- Arkansas Supreme Court Denies Prisoner Preliminary Injunction on Religious Issues, by Anthony Accurso
- How Prepared Are State Prison Systems for a Viral Pandemic?, by Emily Widra, Peter Wagner
- Suit: Mississippi Man Sentenced to Two Days Hangs Himself After Jail Kept Him 52 Days Longer, by Douglas Ankney
- Emergency Cancellation of Attorney Visits Subject to Court Oversight, by David Reutter
- Undisclosed Settlement in Kentucky Case a Textbook Case of Negligent Privatized Prison Medical Care, by David Reutter
- Illinois Supreme Court: Settlements with Private Companies When Contracted for Government Service Are Public Record, by Kevin Bliss
- Coalition Fights to Ensure Jailed Voters in Arizona Can Vote, by Scott Grammer
- Mass Incarceration, Meet COVID-19 Opportunity to release prisoners with little public safety risk is clear, by Sharon Dolovich
- Multiple Indictments, Prison Sentences, for Guards and Officials at Violence-Plagued Cleveland Jail, by Edward Lyon
- Another Prisoner Dies at Tennessee Prison Run By CoreCivic, by Matthew Clarke
- Texas Prison Health Care Costs at Record High Despite Population Reduction, by Matthew Clarke
- DOJ to Treat Immigrants Like Criminals by Collecting DNA Samples, by Kevin Bliss
- Minnesota Prison Bans “No Touch” Rule, by Edward Lyon
- ICE Diverts Needed Face Masks from Medical Professionals, by Kevin Bliss
- Alabama Grandma Sentenced to Life on Drug Charge Finally Paroled, by David Reutter
- Paroled New Yorker Wrongfully Confined; Awarded $3,250, by Kevin Bliss
- Michigan Permits Prisoners to Seek Financial Assistance for College, by Bill Barton
- New Yorker Held Three Years at Rikers Island Before Acquittal, by Matthew Clarke
- Arizona DOC Raids Prisoner-Generated Funds to Pay for Lock Repairs; Whistleblower Says Records Being Falsified, by Matthew Clarke
- Kentucky Governor’s Executive Order Restores Voting Rights for Felons, by David Reutter
- Women Advocate for the Release of COVID-19 At-Risk Prisoners in Indiana, by Kevin Bliss
- Arizona Court Denies Emergency COVID-19 Motion, by David Reutter
- D.C. Juvenile Offender Finally Released After 26 Years Behind Bars, by Bill Barton
- Ohio Prisoner’s Facebook Live a Plea for Help During COVID-19 Pandemic
- Santa Rita Jail Accused of Slave Labor in California Class Action, by Kevin Bliss
- Open Prison: Lessons from the Past, by Michael Fortino, Ph.D
- Chatham County Jail Reverses On Book Ban But Limits Number of Publications, by David Reutter
- $25 Million Jury Award to Baltimore City Prisoner For Guards Setting Up Retaliatory Gang Attack, by Dale Chappell
- Third Circuit Reverses Dismissal of Pennsylvania Prisoners’ Dry Cell Suit, by David Reutter
- Leaving Prison for a Real Home in California, by Edward Lyon
- Health Care Services Killing Women at Virginia Prison, by David Reutter
- $120,000 Settlement for Minnesota Woman Forced to Remove Hijab for Booking, by David Reutter
- News in Brief
More from these topics:
- Washington DOC Barred from Putting Prisoners on Lockdown and Calling It “Programming”, Sept. 1, 2026. Prison Labor, Liberty Interests, Notice of Rules, Lockdowns, Statutory Construction/Interpretation.
- New ICE Detention Standards Appear Designed to Help GEO Group Avoid Paying Wages, Sept. 1, 2026. GEO Group/Wackenhut, Contractor Misconduct, Prison Labor, Immigration Detention.
- New Commission to Investigate Death and Abuse of 230 Black Children at Segregated Maryland Reformatory, Sept. 1, 2026. Racial Discrimination, Prison Labor, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Excessive Force (Wrongful Death), Juvenile Prisons.
- The GEO Group Pays California $104,510 to Settle Workplace Safety Charges at ICE Detention Facility—Where Local Cops Won’t Investigate Crimes, Sept. 1, 2026. GEO Group/Wackenhut, Contractor Misconduct, Prison Labor, Work Conditions/Safety, Police/Govt Misconduct.
- Oklahoma Prisoners Made Political Calls for Conservative Super PAC, Sept. 1, 2026. Prison Industries, Prison Labor, Work Conditions/Safety, Elections.
- Seventh Circuit Holds Federal Law Prohibits County Jail from Forcing Immigration Detainees to Perform Custodial Labor by Threatening Solitary Confinement, Aug. 1, 2026. Prison Labor, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Statutory Construction/Interpretation, Immigration Detention, Monell Liability.
- Oregon Reaches $49 Million Settlement with State Prisoners in COVID-19 Class-Action, Aug. 1, 2026. COVID-19, Eighth Amendment, Settlements, Class Certification, Qualified Immunity.
- SCOTUS Shuts Down GEO Group Bid for Immunity in Suit by Colorado ICE Detainees, July 1, 2026. GEO Group/Wackenhut, Prison Labor, Sovereign Immunity, Interlocutory Appeals, Immigration Detention.
- Colorado Ordered to Stop Tossing Prisoners in Solitary for Refusing to Work, July 1, 2026. Prison Labor, Injunctions, Good Time, Constitution, state, Administrative Detention/Segregation.
- Federal Judge Upholds Infamously Brutal Farm Labor at Angola Prison, June 1, 2026. Racial Discrimination, Prison Labor, Exposure to Heat, Cruel and Unusual Punishment, Deliberate Indifference.

