News Opinons Politics

Dem Rep. Pressley Calls for Prison Sentence Commutations, Clemency for Some in Wake of Coronavirus Epidemic

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.”



Poll: 1 in 5 Young Germans Plan to Move Out of the Country, Even More Imagine Living Somewhere Else
Swalwell’s Endorsement List Is Being ‘Nuked From Orbit’ After Sex Abuse Allegations — But Here’s Why Dems Don’t Get a Pass Now
House Republican plans motion to oust Swalwell from Congress amid sexual assault allegations
Self-proclaimed ‘prophet’ with underage ‘wives’ exposed after couple he trusted helped uncover abuse ring
Machete-wielding suspect claiming to be ‘Lucifer’ shot by police after allegedly stabbing 3 at transit hub
DC Put On ‘Spring Teen Jam’ To Keep Juveniles Out Of Trouble — Instead, Eight Got Arrested
America’s Northern Neighbor Going on Gun-Grabbing Spree
Army of Radical Prosecutors All Have One Thing in Common
Fox’s Maria Bartiromo honored with prestigious award
Trump blasts Spanberger ahead of Virginia meetings, says state faces tax base exodus like New York, California
Hakeem Jeffries Tells Activist Audience DEI Is Explicitly Written Into Constitution
ICE detains relatives of 1979 Iran hostage crisis figure after Rubio revokes their legal status
Swalwell calls sexual misconduct allegations ‘flat out false,’ says he will fight them ‘with everything’
Photos show Athena Strand kidnapping truck as jurors weigh death penalty for killer FedEx driver
Social media erupts after Harris introduces ‘mob boss’ accent to attack Trump: ‘Total cringe’

“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.”

See also  Israel issues ‘urgent’ warning to Iranian civilians to ‘refrain’ from train travel
Story cited here.
Share this article:
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter