By Sarah Calams
NEW YORK — The American Civil Liberties Union launched a nationwide TV ad campaign to urge officials to release vulnerable inmates from prisons and jails.
The release of the TV ads escalates the ACLU’s efforts to save the elderly and medically vulnerable inmate population from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an ACLU press release. Currently, more than 15 legal actions at detention centers, prisons and jails have been filed by the ACLU and its state affiliates. As a result, their efforts have freed 10,000 vulnerable inmates from prisons and jails nationwide.
“During this extraordinary pandemic threat, elected officials must act swiftly to save the lives of the most vulnerable and ensure that a jail and prison sentence does not become a death sentence,” Udi Ofer, ACLU deputy political director, said. “We are using every tool in our toolbox, and are now taking our case to the airwaves: we can’t incarcerate our way out of this pandemic, but governors, sheriffs, prosecutors, and the president have the power, and responsibility, to save lives.”
The ads will run through April 15. One features a woman pleading for the release of her sister, who has diabetes in prison, and the other is a joint effort with the Union Theological Seminary to appeal to the “religious and moral principles” of releasing at-risk inmates.
“Leaders at all levels of government must prevent this pandemic from worsening into a humanitarian crisis in our communities by reducing populations in prisons, jails and detention centers,” Ofer said. “We must save the lives of people who the CDC has identified as most vulnerable to infection. We can and should seize this opportunity to combat the virus’ spread and save lives.”
Watch the two ads below.