The Legal Aid Society, in a recently issued demand letter, called on New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) to immediately release over 100 incarcerated Legal Aid clients who are near their release dates and/or uniquely vulnerable to COVID-19 infection, reports Slate Magazine.

Legal Aid also called on the State to use the same criteria for an internal review to identify all incarcerated people who fall in these categories and should be released immediately. Just this past week, an incarcerated New Yorker at Sing Sing Correctional Facility died after testing positive for COVID-19.

The 105 incarcerated people in this demand letter illustrate the severity of the situation imprisoned people face as the COVID-19 pathogen continues to spread. All of these individuals either are suffering from serious medical conditions, are at least 50 years old, or have an upcoming release date.

These people suffer from serious and often debilitating conditions including HIV/AIDS, Asthma, Crohn’s Disease, Hypertension, Lupus, Heart Disease, Advanced Type-2 Diabetes, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and Lung Disease. Some have release dates within a matter of days; most within months.