An affidavit written by a social worker employed by the City at Rikers Island discloses widespread incompetence and indifference at the beleaguered NYC jail in regards to the COVID-19 health crisis is being used by The Legal Aid Society’s to secure the release clients vulnerable to the disease.

The author – Patricia Kim, a discharge planning social worker – accused city officials of “failing to implement effective, basic, common-sense preventative measures to prevent transmission of COVID-19 to its medically vulnerable detainees,” and details the discrepancy between the jail’s official COVID-19 policies and its on-the-ground reality, writes the Huffington Post.

Lawyers with New York’s Legal Aid Society have secured the release of hundreds of people since the beginning of the pandemic, and begun incorporating Kim’s affidavit into bail applications to free their clients.