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.”
FBI Director Kash Patel says bureau ramping up AI to counter domestic, global threats
ICE lodges detainer for illegal immigrant charged in brutal killing of New York taxi driver
DHS fires back at Senate Dems over ICE detainee death claims: ‘Trying to twist data’
Trump endorses Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman for New York governor after Stefanik exit
Gun jams as shoplifting suspect tries to shoot Ohio police officer at point-blank range in wild bodycam video
LA deputies caught on camera racing into foggy ocean to rescue disoriented paragliders
Vivek Ramaswamy turns to conservative youth to shape the movement’s next phase, analyzes 2026 races
Woman who filed a complaint against Epstein to Clinton FBI vindicated after DOJ release of files
Second tanker seized near Venezuela as US enforces oil blockade
Meet Minnesota’s fraud ‘mastermind’ accused of playing ‘God,’ wielding ‘fake’ racism claims in Somali scandal
Colorado state senator’s BAC was twice legal limit at time of fatal car crash: Coroner’s report
Elizabeth Smart blasts Ghislaine Maxwell’s ‘country club’ prison treatment: ‘Makes me sick’
The council of Trump: Catholicism’s uncomfortable prominence in US politics
Conservatives need to embrace ‘fusion’ of populism, top leader says, calling AmFest scenes are ‘encouraging’
Desperate search for two men underway after fishing boat found empty 70 miles off Florida coast
“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.”
