As people presently living in Connecticut prisons, their family members and loved ones, formerly incarcerated people, medical professionals, and community members from across the state, we demand life-saving action. Our loved ones and community members who are incarcerated are losing their lives and their health.

For years we have known the horror of the living conditions in prisons across Connecticut. 

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, these conditions became even more deadly. We witnessed 18-month sentences turn into death sentences.

People in every prison in the state of Connecticut have reported stories of extreme violence and neglect, but the most inhumane living conditions reported are from Osborn Correctional, one of the oldest and largest prisons in the state. The first incarcerated person to die from COVID-19 was in Osborn Correctional, which has the highest number of deaths from COVID-19 out of all prisons in the state. By January 2021, 19 incarcerated people in Connecticut had died from COVID-19. Seven of them were incarcerated in Osborn.

For decades, Osborn has subjected incarcerated people to deadly conditions. There are currently multiple public health crises intersecting in Osborn, threatening the lives of people inside in an unprecedented way—COVID-19, poisonous contamination of the plumbing system and drinking water, asbestos throughout the facility that has long placed people inside at risk for mesothelioma and cancer, and an ongoing outbreak of deadly Legionnaires disease, which poses even higher risk of death than COVID-19.

Centering the calls made by those currently and formerly incarcerated in Osborn and their loved ones, we are requesting the state close Osborn Correctional Institution immediately and that a full investigation by the health department be conducted in all prison facilities across the state. People incarcerated in Connecticut are still dying from COVID-19 and the toxic conditions of incarceration. Their health and safety must be our priority.

#Health4All #CloseOsborn