NC Advocacy Groups take Gov. Cooper to court over incarcerated folks

With the coronavirus continuing to rapidly spread across the globe, it has become a growing concern for those residing in prison facilities across the state of North Carolina.

Staff and inmates under prison custody are currently receiving the vaccine to help limit the spread of the virus. Vaccinations were first distributed to inmates and staff members on Jan. 20, according to the N.C. Department of Public Safety, .

North Carolina civil rights activist groups such as the NAACP, ACLU of North Carolina, Disability Rights North Carolina and many more established a settlement agreement with N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper on Feb. 18 after filing a lawsuit regarding COVID 19 and the precautionary measures taken within state prisons.

As of March 9, 1,786 offenders have been fully vaccinated and 1,195 have been partially vaccinated for Covid-19. Of those vaccinated, 51 percent are White offenders while 46 percent are Black and Brown. Yet, the number of positive cases continue to grow each day.

In an effort to address the concerns of the mistreatment of offenders in state custody, the settlement agreement between the states civil rights activist groups and Gov. Cooper has been established.

The settlement states that at least 3,500 offenders held in state prisons will re-enter society within 180 days of the agreement. These offenders would be released through Extending Limits of Confinement (ELC), Awarding Discretionary Science Credits and mutual Agreement Parole Programs.

The petition was first filed back in April 2020 with the N.C. Supreme Court by several of the state's civil rights activist groups demanding Gov. Cooper act swiftly to reduce the number of adults and youths held in custody as coronavirus rapidly spreads throughout the state’s detention centers.

“Governor Roy Cooper and Secretary of Public Safety Erik A. Hooks are aware of the gravity of the situation and each have a legal duty to act to protect the people incarcerated in North Carolina’s adult and juvenile facilities,” the petition stated.

At the time the complaints were filed, more than 34,000 people were held in prisons across the state. That number has decreased over 16%, according to the Department of Public Safety.

These groups also sought to ensure youth development centers were equipped to meet the mental health needs of the people they incarcerate, according to Kristie Puckett-Williams, manager of the ACLU’s Statewide Campaign for Smart Justice.

“Even if you have all the counselors in the world...all the therapists, all the medication -- none of that can fully mitigate the harm of incarceration to a person,” Puckett-Williams said.

While the state’s detention centers are making adjustments in response to the pandemic, advocacy groups argue they are simply not doing enough.

In a statement, NAACP President Anthony Spearman reminded supporters that although they have reached this accomplishment, there is still much more work to be done.

“What’s happening in North Carolina prisons is the convergence of 2 pandemics both fueled by racism and classism -- Covid 19 and an unjust criminal legal system,” Spearman said.

“Even as we celebrate this monumental step in our efforts through this lawsuit, we must acknowledge that a disproportionate number of those marginalized, oppressed and put in harm’s way by being incarcerated during the pandemic are melanin-rich, working poor or both.”

In addition to advocating for “constitutional conditions of confinement” for people incarcerated across the state, ACLU NC, NC NAACP and other advocates also called for a greater recognition of the racial disparities in the rates of COVID-19 infection and incarceration.

This can be seen by the vaccination rates. Of the vaccinated offenders serving in North Carolina prisons, white offenders are receiving the vaccine at a higher rate than Black and Brown offenders: 46.6% of Black and Brown offenders have received the vaccine compared with 51% of white offenders.

“African Americans are incarcerated at more than five times the rate of whites; and the imprisonment rate for African-American women is twice that of white women,” the petition read.

“The data collected thus far shows that African Americans in the general population have

been disproportionately impacted by this pandemic.”