‘Our Sentences Have Turned Into Death Sentences’: A Look Inside A Louisiana Prison Offers Snapshot Of National Issue

The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Puts A Prison Under Siege
A Louisiana prison guard sat alongside a sick inmate for more than an hour inside a van and his hospital room, told by a supervisor he didn’t need a mask despite the prisoner’s severe cough and other telltale signs of Covid-19. Within 10 days, the 49-year-old inmate, Patrick Jones, was dead from the coronavirus. The officer, Aubrey Melder, was back at work, having been told days earlier to return, without quarantining, to his duties inside the low-security prison in Oakdale, a lawyer for the union representing prisons employees said. (Gurman, Elinson and Paul, 4/6)

Meanwhile —

The Wall Street Journal: First Rikers Island Inmate Dies After Coronavirus Infection
A Rikers Island inmate who had tested positive for the new coronavirus died Sunday, marking the New York City jail complex’s first death of an inmate who fell ill from the disease, officials said. The Rikers Island inmate, identified by his attorneys as Michael Tyson, 53 years old, was moved to Bellevue hospital in Manhattan on March 26 after becoming ill, city Department of Correction officials said. (Chapman, 4/6)

The Hill: Barr Tells Prosecutors To Consider Coronavirus Risk When Determining Bail: Report
Attorney General William Barr reportedly told prosecutors in a Monday memo to consider coronavirus risks with incarceration when determining bail for defendants. Barr told top federal prosecutors across the country to consider the dangers the defendant could face while being detained, as well as the risks of putting another defendant in prison for the rest of the population, Politico reported. (Coleman, 4/6)