Saturday during an interview with MSNBC’s Al Sharpton, Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), a member of the liberal congressional foursome known as “The Squad,” argued now may be the time to commute sentences of some federal prisoners given their vulnerability to coronavirus.
Pressley said she and other congressional Democrats were lobbying the Bureau of Prisons for “compassionate” releases.
“[W]hen we are talking about our most vulnerable, our low-income residents and those experiencing homelessness, our seniors and that we are also including the incarcerated men and women, who are amongst one of the most vulnerable populations and given the crowding and overpopulating in our prisons for a confluence of other reasons we won’t get into in this interview, Rev., buy you are certainly well aware of, are an ecosystem and a petri dish for the spreading of this pandemic, which is why I partnered with my colleagues, Representatives [Nydia] Velázquez, [Alexandria] Ocasio-Cortez and [Rashida] Tlaib, to lobby the Bureau of Prisons to use their full power to communicate guidance for how we will contain and mitigate this epidemic behind the wall.”
Breaking: FBI Raids ‘Quality Learning Center’ and 21 Other Locations in Somali Fraud Crackdown
OPEC Unexpectedly Loses a Member in Shock to Global Oil Market
Inside the hottest party in town as royal mania takes over Washington
Rep Cory Mills draws first Republican challenger as sexual misconduct allegations, expulsion threat mount
FBI raids Minneapolis childcare facilities, part of sweeping fraud investigation
Three college frats in crosshairs as hazing claims of booze, burns and hospital trips spark crackdown: school
Brooklyn attack leaves 3 injured, suspect wearing Iranian flag shirt arrested by NYPD
Mike Johnson says King Charles’s speech to Congress will be a ‘unifying event’
Recall Issued for Fitness Item Amid Dangerous Injuries: 50K Units Affected, Victims’ Bones Broken
Democrat Governor Hopeful’s SPLC Board Tenure Overlapped with Alleged Payments to Extremist ‘Informants’
SPLC kept paying Aryan Nations operatives after bragging about bankrupting them
Former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist is running for mayor of St. Pete
AI boom tests GOP’s midterm affordability pitch as price pain spreads
WHCA shooting exposes concerns over succession security, number of ‘celebrity’ Cabinet officials at big events
Congress responds to WHCA attack with five separate bills to build Trump’s ballroom
“Specifically, do they have access to testing? Secondly, has anyone tested positive, and what are the quarantine measures? Again given the overpopulating and the fact that many of these facilities are already subpar and that incarcerated men and women do not have access to soap, to alcohol-based hand sanitizers — and to regular showers, what is the guidance for those incarcerated and for staff? And that the B.O.P. Use their full powers, I think now would be the time to commute some sentences, to exact clemency and to take care of our most our vulnerable. Ten percent of those incarcerated are over the age of 60 and already have an underlying condition. We should be using compassionate release.”
