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.”
Supreme Court takes up fight over Trump’s third-country illegal alien deportation policy
FBI’s Andrew Bailey blasts exit ‘lies’ as he reveals real reason he’s leaving agency
‘American Idol’ alum Caleb Flynn convicted of murdering his wife
Newly Uncovered Docs Blow Up Jack Smith’s Story About How His Investigation Into Trump Began
Breaking: Jack Smith Admits to Secretly Gathering Banking Info of Thousands of Trump Donors
Man found dead on tracks at Brooklyn subway station after his bag reportedly gets stuck in closing doors
Office of Personnel Management uncovers $500M in fraud and waste in federal health benefits programs
Soros nephew divulges how family’s power helped bankroll El-Sayed’s education during secretive fundraiser
Rivals skeptical as Netanyahu warns of ‘attack’ against Israel before Oct. 27 election
‘Instead of Enforcing the Law’: Dem Connecticut Faces 2A Court Fight with Major Gun Maker for Banning Popular Pistol
Hawks or Hawkeyes? Eric Schmitt’s Jack Smith grilling runs into basketball mix-up
Trans NYT Games executive killed after accusing in-laws of years of abuse amid bitter custody battle
Hollywood actress upset her son isn’t gay fumes in bizarre spectacle at Human Rights Campaign gala
Fed Up With Abuse, Holdout Clancy Juror Will Carry Out Aggressive Plan to Shut Up Killer’s Attorney
Republicans fear they ‘haven’t done a damn thing’ to lower prices ahead of midterm reckoning
“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.”
