Dear CPEP community,
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all Cornell University campuses have moved to remote instruction for the summer session. Given the risks associated with the spread of the disease in prison, the Cornell Prison Education Program will not likely be able to send anyone into the prison for any reason.
We are focused on completing Spring 2020 courses via correspondence and conferring credit for all work that has been disrupted. Our focus is on retaining our students and building for a better day when we can refocus on our mission to provide excellent higher education inside New York prisons. Given the current state of affairs, I am writing to share an update on the coronavirus epidemic in NYS prisons and the implications for our students.
Let me start with some good news: There have been no reported cases of COVID-19 in the four correctional facilities in which CPEP operates: Auburn, Cayuga, Elmira, and Five Points Correctional Facilities all have zero cases according to the most recent reports from the New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (NY-DOCCS).
I have been collating publicly available data on the number of cases of COVID-19 reported in NYC jails, NYC as a whole, state prisons and among state prison staff (see figure to the right). Statisticians raise serious questions about the meaning of case counts, but we know that when there is a lot of testing it is because there are a lot of sick people. What is less clear is what it means when few cases are reported based on very few tests (as is the case in the prisons where CPEP operates).
The epicenter of infections in the NYS correctional system is in and around New York City, including 16 reported deaths among DOCCS prisons, parolees, and staff. As you can see in the figure above, three prisons near Metro NYC have tested positive at rates that exceed the high levels seen in NYC and NY-DOCCS staff, approaching the exceptionally high rate recorded in NYC jails this past month. This reality has compelled CPEP to do all that it can to get protective masks to people in prisons. (See this month’s newsletter for more details on CPEP’s mask drive leadership.)
Another side of this story: Fewer than 4,000 people are currently incarcerated in NYC jails, which is fewer than any time since the 1940s. Ross McDonald, former CPEP TA and chief physician in the NYC jail system, has been a leader in addressing what he called a “public health disaster unfolding before our eyes” and advocating for fast release of as many people as possible in the interest of public health. In fact, the growth of the infection rate in the NYC jail population has been amplified by this reduction in overall population, by shrinking the denominator used to calculate the rate.
We will continue to do all that we can to serve our mission to provide humanizing higher education in prison during this challenging time.
Sincerely
Rob Scott, Executive Director
Cornell Prison Education Program