MA Coronavirus: 296 Prisoners Released After High Court Ruling

BOSTON — Massachusetts has released 296 inmates from the state's prisons and jails in the first week following a controversial Supreme Judicial Court ruling.

That amounts to 4.8 percent of the 6,104 people who were incarcerated April 5, the first day inmates were released. The court's ruling came after an emergency filing by inmate's rights advocates, who argued keeping prisoners in jail in the ongoing new coronavirus pandemic would amount to cruel and unusual punishment.

The number of releases were included in a weekly report mandated by the ruling, which also showed 54 inmates, 48 correctional officers and 14 staff members tested positive for the coronavirus.

The report shows the Essex County Jail in Middleton as being the state correctional facility hit hardest by the coronavirus. There, 35 inmates, eight correctional officers and two staff members tested positive. The facility has released 32 inmates under the ruling, including eight on Thursday, 15 on Friday and nine on Monday.

By comparison, the Worcester County Jail had released 59 inmates, more than any other facility. No inmates, two guards and one staff member have tested positive for the coronavirus at that facility.

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The ruling said people charged with most crimes should be released without bail "unless an unreasonable danger to the community would result, or the individual presents a very high risk of flight." The ruling lets people currently serving sentences of 60 days or fewer to file motions to have their sentences revised or revoked.

The ruling also ordered the Department of Corrections and parole board to speed up the process for paroling prisoners "and to identify other classes of inmates who might be able to be released by agreement of the parties, as well as expediting petitions for compassionate release."

More Coronavirus Coverage On Massachusetts Patch:

• Massachusetts Coronavirus Case Map: Updated
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• Mapping Massachusetts Coronavirus: Where Are State's ICU Beds?
• How To Get Health Care If You're Uninsured During Coronavirus

Dave Copeland writes for Patch and can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).