Coronavirus prompts Board of Correction to release incarcerated individuals from NYC jails

“The city must drastically reduce the number of people in jail right now and limit new admissions to exceptional circumstances,” the board said in a statement Tuesday.

“The city can follow the leads of Los Angeles County and Cuyahoga County [Ohio] which have already begun to release people to minimize a potential outbreak,” the statement continued. “The city must begin this process now. The city’s jails have particular challenges to preventing disease transmission on a normal day, and even more so during a public health crisis.”

The board — the Correction Department’s oversight body — said the city should prioritize people in custody who are over 50 as well as those who are detained for parole violations, serving one year or less or have underlying health conditions like heart disease, diabetes, lung disease, cancer or a weakened immune system.

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