WASHINGTON – Prisoner rights advocates accused the federal Bureau of Prisons of “slow walking" the release of inmates at a Louisiana lockup where the coronavirus has killed six prisoners and infected dozens of others.
The American Civil Liberties Union urged a federal judge on Monday to release hundreds of vulnerable inmates at FCC Oakdale to home confinement, calling the rural facility a tinderbox “ready to explode.” Jail officials deemed several dozen prisoners “potentially eligible" for release.
But the ACLU described the government's plan as “far too little, far too late.” As of Sunday night, 38 inmates and 17 staff members had tested positive for COVID-19 at the Louisiana prison.