No COVID-19 Prison Break in Oregon, For Now

Efforts to exploit the COVID-19 crisis to achieve massive releases of prisoners received a setback in Oregon today. Conrad Wilson reports for OPB:

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said Tuesday she won’t release inmates over risks surrounding COVID-19.

The decision comes the day after Brown received the information she requested about 2,836 inmates in the custody of the Oregon Department of Correction that met criteria for possible release: inmates with approved residences, those who were older and at higher risk from the coronavirus and those set to be released in the coming weeks and months, among other requirements.

The possibility of a large release brought a strong reaction from the Oregon District Attorneys Association. In a letter to the Governor on April 8, the ODAA forcefully pointed out that the state’s prisons are not full of harmless “non-violent offenders” who can be released without consequence to innocent people.

As you are aware nearly 70% of the DOC population have been convicted for committing violent crimes against Oregonians…. [T]hey are primarily serving sentences for violent Measure 11 offenses, which include murder, rape, robbery and kidnapping. Even those serving non-Measure 11 crimes encompass a vast array of violent felonious behavior. Offenses like Child Abuse, Sexual Offenses, Domestic Violence, Unlawful Use of a Weapon and Burglaries in which firearms were used, Attempted Assaults, Attempted Kidnappings and Assaults on Public Safety Officers are all potentially non-Measure 11 offenses. These are serious crimes, many with vulnerable victims and many committed by criminals with violent histories who have thus earned their eventual stay in an Oregon institution.

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In [keeping our communities safe] any early release or commutation decisions must prioritize community safety first and foremost. The COVID crisis should not lead to reduced criminal sentences that place our communities at greater risk. As such we oppose all early release due to the COVID crisis of any offender serving a Measure 11 sentence.

Additionally, for any non-Measure 11 offenders, we urge careful review of the State’s ability to provide necessary supervision, housing, and medical care to these inmate should they be released into our communities; especially in light of the resulting increased demand on our already strapped law enforcement partners.

Oregon is not out of the woods yet, though. The OPB story notes:

After Brown’s announcement Tuesday, ODAA put out statement urging for a more definitive action than a press conference statement.

“While we appreciate the Governor’s comments today, it remains unclear what her official position is regarding the early release of nearly 3,000 inmates,” ODAA said. “To our knowledge, Department of Corrections officials are still coordinating that massive list to assess those convicted criminals for early release.”

There is, however, one statement in the ODAA’s April 8 letter that I have to take issue with. The ellipsis in the above block quote indicates the deletion of this language: “Unlike many states across the country, Oregon’s prison population is not substantially made up of individuals serving long sentences for drug possession crimes ….” Really? What states are those?

I have not yet found statistics broken down by state, but nationwide only 3.5% of state prison inmates are in for drug possession.*  It’s pretty hard to reconcile that statistic with the assertion that in “many” states the prison population is “substantially made up” of drug possession offenders.

Those of us throughout the country who are fighting the drive to release dangerous criminals are in this fight together. We don’t need to be trashing each other. While refuting myths in our own states, we don’t need to be promoting the same myths in other states.

* Note that “drug offenses” include trafficking as well as possession. The other side just loves to make a statement about people going to prison for drug possession and then toss in a statistic on drug offenders. Figures don’t lie but liars figure.