From the ACLU, this is at Liberty. But I'm not Emerson Sykes. My name is Kendall Seesmeyer, and I'm the producer of this podcast. I'm taking the reins for this episode as Emerson is off.

A quick note to listeners.

Today's episode was recorded outside of our office due to our mandatory work from home policy during the unfolding coronavirus pandemic.

We take seriously the safety of our staff and the guests on our podcast.

Please excuse any change in audio quality.

As the coronavirus continues to spread across the country,

the nation's jails and prisons have become ripe breeding grounds for COVID-19. Millions of people who interact with our criminal justice system are at risk. Last weekend marked the first COVID-related

death of an inmate, and new reports show that the rate of infection in

prisons is far higher than their surrounding areas, evidence of the urgent need for states and

cities to jump into action. Some are responding to the crisis by beginning to release people

in jails and prisons who the Center for Disease Control, the CDC, deem high risk for contracting the virus.

Others, however, are refusing to budge, leaving advocates, former judges, and district attorneys

to call for change. A new poll shows that 63% of registered voters would like to see people

released during the unfolding pandemic. In this episode, you'll hear from Lewis Conway, a national campaign strategist

for the ACLU, who has experienced incarceration, and also Udi Ofer, the ACLU's Deputy National

Political Director on what prisons should be doing to prevent the spread of the virus.

So there's really no way to social distance yourself in prison.

You know, it's kind of built in a way that it demands you to be in close contact with individuals.

Even when you're all not in your cage, you're still within a large cage.

This is Lewis Conway. In 1991, Lewis was given a 20-year sentence. He spent eight of those

years in prison and 12 on parole, completing his sentence in 2013. During those eight years in

prison, he was held in close quarters with hundreds of other people

...