The Sun Sentinel has the story here of an inmate who has died at an area hospital. He was suffering from Covid-19, and represented by the PDO, which has gone to unprecedented lengths to get as many folks as possible out of the jail system during the pandemic.
As previously reported, BSO does not have ventilators in the jails, and a further outbreak could overwhelm area hospitals, in addition to putting inmates, staff, and LEO’s needlessly in jeopardy.
The time is now for the stakeholders to agree to start commuting BCJ sentences for non-violent offenders, and to agree to release others awaiting hearings. It shouldn’t have to take a lawsuit or other legal action this late in the game.
The once a day, non-public Emergency Docket is not enough, with many finding it next to impossible to get a case on the docket for a bond hearing or a negotiated plea. The only remaining docket for this week has a mere twenty-seven cases, while inmates are stacked in tiny cells on lockdown for twenty-three hours a day awaiting hearings.
Jack Tuter, Mike Satz and Greg Tony may be doing the best they can, but much more is needed. The adversarial process that is mostly being relied upon at this time, where pleas are sometimes being squeezed, needs to be shelved and replaced by common sense agreements to get non-violent offenders out of jail immediately.
PEOPLE ARE DYING