Department of Corrections Faces Legal Challenges as Employees Receive COVID-19 Vaccine
Inmates claiming inadequate protection from COVID-19 receive favorable judgement in on-going case against DOC, as staff receives first vaccines As of Jan. 10, statewide 27 adults in custody incarcerated by the Department of Corrections have died after testing positive for COVID-19, according to the DOC s Response to the Novel Coronavirus in Oregon website. There are 604 active cases among AICs statewide including 25 at the Deer Ridge Correctional Institute in Madras. Cases among DOC staff are self-reported due to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, but there have been 43 such reported cases at DRCI to date, 705 statewide.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) A man has been accused of firing a gun at the federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon, two days after he was arrested at the state Capitol in Salem in a trespassing.
Inmates Face Uphill Climb For Virus Outbreak Relief By
Sarah Jarvis | December 20, 2020, 8:02 PM EST
Advocates for inmates across the country say prisons have not taken appropriate measures to protect the incarcerated from the spread of COVID-19. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
At a Texas prison unit housing mostly elderly inmates, COVID-19 has killed more than 20 men and hospitalized nearly 100 so far. Advocates for the prisoners, who accused the state of failing to implement measures to prevent the spread of the virus, are awaiting a Fifth Circuit ruling they hope will help curb the outbreak.
Earlier this month, the Fifth Circuit heard oral arguments on an expedited briefing schedule over whether it should reinstate a permanent injunction requiring the prison to implement a COVID-19 containment protocol. The Fifth Circuit had
SALEM â A federal judge has ruled that a suit can proceed against the governor and state correctional officials alleging theyâve failed to protect prison inmates from the spread of the coronavirus.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Stacie F. Beckerman found that state leaders can face liability claims if they didnât carry out safety measures according to policies adopted to stem the tide of COVID-19.
Those include ensuring that inmates and staff have worn masks when required, screening employees for COVID-19 symptoms consistent with department policy, training staff on adequate sanitation and disinfection practices, enforcing social distancing policies, testing those with symptoms and quarantining inmates with symptoms pending their tests or after transfers from prisons where they had exposure to others who tested positive for the virus.