State prisons are among the places the coronavirus is spreading in our country. With testing happening on a limited basis and the obvious inability to social distance between inmates and staff, the novel virus has a strong foothold in penal institutions. Lawyers for inmates have filed lawsuits challenging the continued incarceration of medically vulnerable, elderly and low-level offenders.

Lawyers for inmates who have pending innocence claims have added a basis for requesting release of their clients: the possibility that an innocent person could die during the pandemic before their claim was resolved.

Here’s a link to the story I recently authored for WGLT on this issue:

https://www.wglt.org/post/jamie-snow-among-inmates-seeking-clemency-during-virus