A COVID outbreak in the York County Jail has sickened dozens of people in custody, jail staff and their families, and has spread beyond the jail into the community. The York County sheriff has admitted that he did not enforce basic COVID safety precautions, including mask wearing and symptom checks for staff.
Jails and prisons all around the country have been hotspots for COVID outbreaks. At the beginning of the pandemic, Maine’s jail populations dropped as public officials took the threat of outbreaks seriously. Now, the jail population has increased to near pre-COVID levels. This is unacceptable. We are still in the midst of a deadly pandemic, and we should be keeping our incarcerated population low.
That's why we need you to call the public officials who are most responsible for incarcerating people and overseeing the safety of those in jail. Tell them that public safety means keeping people out of jail. Tell them that they have a duty to keep people in their custody safe. Use the drop down menus to find scripts to help you make calls to your district attorney, your sheriff or jail administrator, and if you live in one of Maine's twelve largest cities, to your police chief.
Thanks for standing up for the civil rights and civil liberties of all Mainers by making these calls.