Stefen Short – Supervising Attorney with the Prisoners’ Rights Project at the Legal Aid Society – appeared on WNYC’s The Brian Lehrer Show to discuss the COVID-19 humanitarian crisis unfolding at prisons across New York State, and Governor Cuomo and the New York State Department of Correction and Community Supervision’s inability and refusal to properly mitigate the spread of disease to save lives.

Since the start of the pandemic, Legal Aid has called on Albany to release those incarcerated New Yorkers most vulnerable to COVID-19. LAS has also filed several mass writs seeking immediately release and submitted over 100 clemency applications to Governor Cuomo seeking the same relief.

WNYC reports 100 elderly individuals were relocated upstate to the Adirondack Correctional Facility after downstate jails and prisons were overrun with coronavirus infection, but are still being denied medical treatment for myriad chronic health issues. Short explained this is yet another example of statewide mismanagement.

“These are cases that encapsulate the dire situation upstate,” he said, “and they’re cases that encapsulate [Gov. Cuomo’s] and the department’s failure to meet the moment and to release sufficient numbers of people to prevent deaths and prevent spread [of the virus], and to enable social distancing and other preventative measures upstate.”

Listen to the full episode below.