Lawmakers join calls for leniency for Georgia college student jailed in the Caymans
Two of Georgia’s lawmakers have appealed the U.S. Embassy in the Cayman Islands to request leniency for Skylar Mack, the 18-year-old Mercer University pre-med student locked up for breaking COVID-19 restrictions.
Mack, along with her boyfriend Vanjae Ramgeet, 24, have been behind bars since Dec. 15. After both pleading guilty, a court on the island revised her sentence from four months to two months. Still, the family thinks that is too harsh of a punishment. She s scared to death, she s terrified over there. She s by herself. She has no one, she s having panic attacks, her mother, Rebecca Burt, said in a recent interview on Fox & Friends.
Perdue, Loeffler Ask Release From Prison For Georgia College Student Held In Cayman Islands For COVID-19 Quarantine Violation Sunday, December 27, 2020
Skylar Mack Senators David Perdue (R-GA) and Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) sent a letter to Acting Consul General of the U.S. Embassy in Kingston, Jamaica, on behalf of Skylar Mack, an 18-year-old college student from Georgia currently detained in the Cayman Islands.
Ms. Mack is under a two-month sentence for violating her quarantine to go watch her boyfriend compete in a jet ski competition. She initially got 40 hours of community service and a $2,600 fine. After an appeal by prosecutors, it was raised to four months in prison. A further appeal trimmed that to two months. She has served a week.
Cayman Compass
Skylar Mack and Vanjae Ramgeet were the first people to be jailed under Cayman’s recently updated quarantine regulations, but they’re certainly not the first in the world to receive prison sentences for breaching a country’s isolation rules. From small islands, like the Isle of Man and Singapore to the huge island of Australia, and even in Mack’s homeland of the United States, courts have been handing down punitive jail terms to those who put local populations at risk by ignoring quarantine rules.
Isle of Man
As of 22 Dec., the Isle of Man – population 83,314 – had reported a total of 374 cases, three of which were active, and 25 deaths. Under the island’s regulations, arrivals are required to quarantine for 14 days. Breaches of quarantine carry a penalty of fines up to £10,000 (CI$11,133) or three months in prison.
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