Australia to release prisoners under Covid-19 emergency powers

SYDNEY: Some New South Wales prisoners could be released under new emergency powers announced on Tuesday by the Australian Attorney General, Mark Speakman.

The powers will give the corrections minister authority to release or parole inmates who are nearing the end of their sentences, or considered on case-by-case basis, The Guardian reported.

Corrections NSW will not have the power to release inmates sentenced for serious crimes like murder, terrorism or sexual offences, and in all cases must “consider the risks to community safety, the protection of domestic violence victims, and the impact on any victim before releasing an inmate.”

“This bill will help to empower the relevant experts and public bodies to make tough and swift decisions in the best interests of the community.”

Every state and territory has already banned face-to-face jail visits in an effort to reduce the spread of Covid-19.

Makayla Reynolds, whose brother Nathan died in custody in 2018 after a severe asthma attack went untreated, said governments must urgently consider increasing home detention.

“My brother Nathan died from an asthma attack in prison,” she said. “It took 40 minutes from the first call of help for someone to arrive, despite the pleas and screams of the young men around him. But it was too late for my brother.

“The most at risk are people like my brother – Aboriginal, chronically ill and incarcerated.

“My brother, a proud Aboriginal man and loving dad, had a known asthma condition and couldn’t survive the conditions of minimum-security prison.

“The only way to protect our people in prison is the temporary release of those most at risk of dying,” she said. The Aboriginal Legal Service (ALS) welcomed the move.

“This is a sensible, compassionate move which will not only better protect our mob in custody, but better protect the entire prison population, staff, their families and the community – and free-up critical frontline health resources,” ALS CEO Karly Warner said.

More than 370 academics, lawyers, barristers and former magistrates last week released a letter warning governments that prisons face “an uncontrollable outbreak”.

“We know that Covid-19 spreads quickly in closed spaces and prisons are commonly epicentres for infectious diseases,” the letter says.

“This is particularly a concern where there is overcrowding, with most Australian prisons operating at over 100% of their design capacity: 77% of people entering and 33% of people in prison are on remand and 30% are on sentences of less than 12 months.

“Failing to deal with Covid-19 in the criminal justice system will dramatically increase the epidemic curve.”

The National peak body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services said it has met with the federal government and state and territory attorneys general to discuss managing prison populations. “With the over-representation of our people in prison, our lives are on the line,” said Natsils’s chair, Cheryl Axelby. “We are calling for immediate early release, particularly of people who are on remand, women who are victims of family violence and sentenced for lesser offences like fines and public order offences, young people and those most at risk of transmitting Covid-19, like elderly and people with health conditions.

“At all costs, we must prevent any Aboriginal deaths in custody from Covid-19,” she said.

Globally, governments are using early release to contain the virus, she said. Ireland was planning to release prisoners with less than 12 months to serve, as were some US and UK jurisdictions. “Right now, our lives depend on having full access to social safety nets without any strings attached.”