The Legal Aid Society joined with a group of NYC defender organizations – including Brooklyn Defender Services, The Bronx Defenders, New York County Defenders, Queens Defenders and Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem – on a joint letter calling on the New York City Department of Correction and other city agencies to provide clear and transparent COVID-19 protocols for local jails.

The letter demands answers regarding in-person legal and family visits, distribution of personal protective equipment, sanitation procedures, as well as other critical services, according to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.

“Our offices have sought information on many of these policies over the course of the pandemic through FOIL, public calls for transparency and direct requests to the agencies,” the letter reads in part. “The responses we have received have been insufficient to ensure the health and safety of our clients and, in some instances, our FOIL requests have gone unanswered.”