Public defender groups sue Cuomo to vaccinate inmates
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Public defenders groups have sued Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Health Commissioner Howard Zucker to force the state to vaccinate inmates in jails and prisons. AP Photo/Seth Wenig
By David Brand
Public defender groups from across New York City have followed through on their threat to sue Gov. Cuomo in order to force the state to vaccinate inmates.
The New York Civil Liberties Union joined four public defender organizations, including Legal Aid, in the Article 78 petition filed in Bronx Supreme Court Thursday on behalf of two inmates in Rikers Island jails, where fewer than five percent of inmates have been vaccinated, the Eagle reported last month.
The complaint names Cuomo and Health Commissioner Howard Zucker, alleging that they have have deprioritized the lives of people living in the dangerous conditions of New York’s jails and prisons.”
The state has “irrationally ignored medical and public health expertise, and drawn distinctions — between incarcerated people and people in other congregate settings, as well as between incarcerated people and workers in correctional facilities — that serve no legitimate public health purpose,” the complaint continues.
Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, The Bronx Defenders and Brooklyn Defender Services also joined the lawsuit.
At least 5,163 inmates have contracted COVID-19 in New York prisons, with more than 600 currently sick with the illness, according to state reports. At least 31 inmates and seven staff members have died of the coronavirus, the data shows.
A judge last month ordered the state to administer the COVID-19 vaccine to a 65-year-old inmate with a respiratory illness.
Only about 250 inmates in New York City jails have received their first dose of the vaccine, while roughly 250 eligible inmates declined their shots, Correctional Health Services said.
As of Jan. 25, about 500 New York City Department of Correction and more than 500 CHS employees had received the vaccine.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that all people in jails and prisons, including inmates, be prioritized for the COVID-19 vaccine.
The two petitioners, Charles Holden and Alberto Frias, are both detained on Rikers, where they say they fear for their lives.
“I have asthma, and every day that passes without being vaccinated leaves me anxious that I might be the next person to get sick, or that I may pass COVID onto other people,” Frias said. “It is impossible to stay six feet apart. You eat together, you use the same showers.”
“I am simply asking to be treated fairly and with dignity,” he added.
Department of Correction and Community Supervision spokesperson Thomas Mailey said the state plans to vaccinate 1,075 inmates 65 and older.
“DOCCS is in the process of preparing to vaccinate that population consistent with statewide guidance for that age group,” he said.
