Public defenders and advocates staged a series of protests in front of criminal courts in each of the five boroughs on Monday to call attention to the humanitarian crisis unfolding on Rikers Island. The protestors are asking prosecutors and judges to use their power to keep New Yorkers out of City jails by not requesting or setting bail, according to Gothamist.

In addition to the increasing spread of COVID-19, a mass wave of staff absenteeism has compounded long-standing problems to create an extraordinarily dangerous environment for people in custody. At least twelve people have died in Department of Correction custody this year already.

“The criminal justice system has revealed what incredible depths it will sink to in terms of denying people basic human rights,” said Lucy Herschel, a paralegal with The Legal Aid Society who was part of the group protesting in Queens. She called the judges’ willingness to send  people to City jails during the ongoing crisis “unconscionable and criminal.”

“As an officer of the court, I am demanding the release of every person who comes before this court in recognition of their risk of death and serious harm in city jails, including subjection to internationally recognized forms of torture,” said Amanda Jack, an attorney with Legal Aid, during an arraignment hearing in Manhattan. “Sending a person presumed innocent to any city jail facility is a potential death sentence.”