In the Fight to Protect Prisoners From COVID-19, I Have to Ask a Judge for Soap
The coronavirus pandemic has already altered daily life beyond recognition. It will shape our lives for years to come, mostly in ways that are impossible to predict, let alone understand. Esquire asked twenty people to share their experiences in the first few months of the outbreak. Each of their first-person accounts is a reassurance that none of us are facing this alone. Check out the full list here.
My colleagues and I filed a lawsuit against the sheriff of Cook County to protect the well-being of those locked up in Cook County Jail, one of the biggest COVID hot spots in the country.
It’s not for money. We’re trying to change the way things are on the ground.
Because Cook County Jail is in the middle of Chicago, it’s a part of the community. It’s not just the people in the jail who are at risk. It’s the jail staff, who go home to their families, who in turn go into the community. The jail is a huge driver of the pandemic in this city, so we all need to pay attention to what’s happening there.
We heard from many, many people inside. They were crammed into cells or packed into dorms. The jail lacked sanitation and cleaning supplies. There were no masks. There was no social distancing. There was a lot of fear.
The only way we can move on from this is to address some of the underlying injustices that this crisis has laid bare. The vast majority of the people locked up there are pretrial, many because they can’t afford bail. They haven’t been convicted of anything, and they haven’t had their day in court. They’re presumed innocent.
Why do they have to fight for soap?
Approximate number of inmates in Cook County Jail: 4,500
Number of confirmed cases at the jail, including staff: 919
Which makes it: One of the nation’s largest known clusters of COVID-19 infections
I’ve been working at a card table set up in the bedroom. My husband and I switch off using it. We have a one-year-old and a four-year-old. There’s a bit of chaos—say, asking a judge to hear our request for release with a baby screaming in the background. Judge is like, “Counsel, what is that noise?” “A leaf blower outside!” It can be hard to have gravitas.
I’m very worried about my children. At the same time, I’m incredibly worried about the forty-five-hundred-plus people in the jail. Switching between those two viewpoints is very . . . I feel unbalanced sometimes.
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