Inside With Covid

Life inside the Maryland prison system is already hard. Now with Covid-19, it is unbearable. Inmates can take a lot and that statement is tested every day. Many pull through and sadly others do not.

Inmates have to endure weeks of lock-downs. Where they don’t leave their cell or tier for long periods of time. No daylight; no fresh air. They barely get phone call breaks as the MDOC struggles to maintain order.

There are many challenges that the institutions have to deal with. Inmate well being is probably lower down on the list than it should be. Correctional officers are at risk for covid-19 exposure, but frankly, they are the ones who bring it in and put the inmate population at risk. People have died in their cells.

The extended lockdowns are most likely caused by staffing issues like not having enough staff to properly run a facility. So imagine no programs, no exercise, very limited communication, health risks abound and no hope of this changing any time soon.

It has been reported that inmates have been given funds on their phone account to make 15 min calls. That is something, but with the track record of Maryland’s prison system and the Department of Corrections history, not much else is going to change unless they want to.