Public Defender cautious about early release of prisoners due to covid-19 fears

Public Defender Arlene Harrison Henry says she would not support indiscriminate early release of  prisoners because of an increase in COVID-19 cases at correctional facilities.

Staff and inmates at seven of  the eleven facilities have tested positive for covid-19.

There have been calls for the early release of prisoners close to the end of  their sentences or those considered low risk.

The Public Defender wants any early release of  prisoners to be done on a case-by-case basis, "only after an assessment of each case."

"We have to look at the history of that inmate, the records that relate to that inmate, conduct, character and all of that," she said. 

Mrs Harrison Henry told Radio Jamaica News she understands the risk of  contracting covid-19 which prisoners face as well as concerns about overcrowding.

On the other hand, she said the issue of  early release must involve consultation, given the risks prisoners might pose to the society, and given what she said was the lack of sufficient "internal national security capabilities and apparatus... to manage that."

Remand

Regarding persons who are in remand, Mrs Harrison Henry is urging taht renewed applications for bail should be made for them.