Congress and the Media Awaken from Months-Long Slumber Over BOP's Deliberate Indifference in COVID Response

 

DOJ COVID-19 Response Receives Intense Post-Election Scrutiny; Deliberate Indifference, Anyone?

 

by Derek Gilna

 

            Anyone who still harbors the illusion that government is the answer to all of your problems need only turn to the incredible incompetence exhibited in the DOJ's response to the COVID-19 crisis in federal prisons.   Already cited by the its own Inspector General for failure to provide adequate, well-trained prison medical staff nationwide, it has resorted to "Treatment by Press Release," full of self-congratulations on its feeble response, rising to a level of misrepresentation envied by the Chinese Communist Party apparatus, and dutifully regurgitated by asst. U.S. attorneys until very recently.

            The mainstream media finally has awakened to this ongoing crisis and nowhere is the spotlight brighter than at Ft Dix. Senator Corey Booker, mentioned as possible AG in a Biden administration (much more on that next week), has sent a scathing letter to DOJ. In it, he demanded that all prisoners be tested and cease all further transfers, noting DOJ "does not have an effective plan to ensure COVID-19 positive inmates are not transferred between facilities." The rest of the media now senses blood in the water, and even judges have noticed. A federal judge has ordered U.S. attorneys for FCI Fort Dix to provide details on how the prison has mitigated the spread of  cases there top 200.

            Unfortunately, Ft. Dix is not alone in its misery: Ashland, 20, Gilmer, 107, Duluth, 100, Pekin, both men and women, over 200, FMC Rochester, over 100, Forrest City, over 50,  Waseca, 100,  with many others unable to report due to apparent censorship of emails and reg. mail. The misguided attempts to infect everyone continues.

            Biden has pledged to allocate billions of dollars of funding toward a grant program aimed at promoting crime prevention within state and local governments that get to the root of the source of crime: poor neighborhoods, child abuse, and limited education access, according to the Biden-Harris Transition plan. “After incarcerated individuals serve their time, they should have the opportunity to fully reintegrate into society, earn a good living, and participate in our democracy as our fellow citizens,” Biden’s campaign website states.

            Compassionate releases continue: United States v. Grimm, 2020 WL 6165286 (D. Nev. Oct. 21, 2020),14 years for mortgage fraud, Lupus, diagnosed after court ordered it. United States v. Owens, 2020 WL 6162783, at *1 (S.D.W. Va. Oct. 21, 2020),130 months for crack distribution, reduced to 110 months, has served 92 months,FCI Allenwood Medium, Hypertension, abdominal hernia, missing left kidney. Frushour v. United States, 2020 WL 4734907, at *1 (E.D. Mich. Aug. 14, 2020), Defendant’s projected release date is July 17, 2024, sentenced to 108 months in 2016 for child porn, FCI Milan,78 years old, diabetes, heart murmur, hyperlipidemia, skin cancer, morbid obesity. US v. Nazario-Montijo, 3:17-cr-00278-JAG, ECF 273 (D.P.R. Sep. 17, 2020.) granting reduction in sentence where defendant was sentenced pre-COVID to 24 months pursuant to a binding plea agreement, his self-surrender date extended, obesity and mental health conditions that could be exacerbated by BOP infection mitigation efforts.

            Fear not, and Let not your heart be troubled.

Federal Legal Center, Inc., Derek A Gilna, JD, MRJ, Director,

113 McHenry Rd., #173, Buffalo Grove, Ill (and IN.)

dgilna1948@yahoo.com, and "Derek Gilna's Criminal Justice Blog."