LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The Louisville Community Bail Fund is asking for the immediate release of all Louisville Metro Corrections inmates due to the pandemic.
During a news conference Wednesday outside of Metro Corrections, members of Black Lives Matter said they want inmates to be allowed to serve their sentences on home incarceration due to the health concerns presented by COVID-19. They said they fear the respiratory disease is putting inmates at risk in jails and prisons across the state.
Members of the group said they have asked for Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear's help.
"They figure, 'Leave all the Blacks locked up. Let them catch all the COVID-19. Let them catch all the corona. Let them die that way.'" said Ali Muhammad, the brother of an inmate at Louisville Metro Corrections. "Ain't nothing being done about it."
"As a mom, you try everything you can to help your children, and it's really a disheartening feeling when you feel helpless and you can't do anything," added Tracey Van Dyke, whose daughter is incarcerated on drug charges at the Kentucky Correctional Institute for Women in Oldham County.
Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer said Tuesday that 70 of the nearly 2,600 inmates at Louisville Metro Corrections have tested positive for the coronavirus. That's an increase of 32 cases from a July 23 report provided by Steve Durham, assistant director of Metro Corrections. At the time, Durham said 38 of more than 2,220 inmates had tested positive for the virus and only one had developed symptoms.
Five employees at the facility also tested positive for the respiratory disease on Monday, according to the mayor. On July 23, Durham said 25 employees out of more than 300 had tested positive.
Durham also said that jail officials have asked the county attorney and commonwealth attorney's offices to identify low-risk inmates who have lower bonds or community-release bonds, as well as inmates with sentences of 90 days or less, for release into community. Inmates 60 years and older with health conditions that may put them at a higher risk of severe COVID-19 symptoms are also being examined for release "without significantly impacting public safety," he added.
On July 29, J. Michael Brown, secretary of Beshear's executive cabinet, said state officials were in the final round of screening 700 inmates for early release amid an uptick in cases at prisons.
Related Stories:
- As city crosses 100,000 COVID-19 tests, Louisville health officials say positivity rate is more than 7%
- Few Louisville jail inmates, staffers test positive for COVID-19, but staff remain vigilant, official says
- Officials screening 700 inmates for possible release amid uptick of COVID-19 cases at Kentucky's prisons
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