San Quentin Must Cut Inmate Population In Half Amid Covid Outbreak

An emergency care facility was erected on the baseball field to treat inmates suffering from one the largest outbreaks of COVID-19 in the nation. ( Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

By Kat Schuster, Patch Staff

MARIN COUNTY, CA — After finding that San Quentin officials exhibited “deliberate indifference” to the health of prisoners — where 75 percent of its inmates have tested positive for COVID-19 and 28 have died — a state appeals court ordered half of its inmates be released or transferred Tuesday.

A three-judge panel issued the order Tuesday that no more than 1,775 inmates may be held at the 168-year-old prison after a massive coronavirus outbreak, the ruling details.

“By all accounts, the COVID-19 outbreak at San Quentin has been the worst epidemiological disaster in California correctional history,” the Tuesday ruling states. “And there is no assurance San Quentin will not experience a second or even third spike.”

The prison, with its outdated facilities and poor ventilation, reportedly has a dark history associated with widespread illness and a reputation of neglecting prisoners. The facility also experienced widespread outbreaks during the Spanish flu pandemic in 1918.

According to the resident prison physician of San Quentin, the Spanish flu consisted of three distinct epidemics, in April, October, and November of 1918.

More than 298 San Quentin staff members have also tested positive for the virus and one has died, the ruling revealed.

The order was projected to allow each cell in North and West Blocks of the facility to be single-room occupancy, and urges the prison to release people older than 60.

“It is important to note that we spoke to a number of incarcerated people who were over the age of 60 and had a matter of weeks left on their sentences,” experts from UC San Francisco detailed in an Urgent Memo after visiting and assessing the facility. “It is inconceivable that they are still in this dangerous environment.”

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitations may transfer inmates to facilities that “are able to provide necessary physical distancing.”

COVID-19 first began spreading rapidly across cellblocks in July, resulting 2,239 cases. While cases did drop up in late summer, one new case was reported in the past two weeks, Bloomberg reported.

Inmate Invan Von Staich, who was convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend’s husband in 1986, sued incarceration officials in May, alleging that the facility was “not adequately prepared to respond to a possible outbreak of COVID-19.”

Cases began surfacing among inmates soon after.

Von Staich, 64, suffers from respiratory problems as bullet fragments remain lodged in his left lung. He and another 65-year-old cellmate tested positive for COVID-19 and were transferred to a west block cell which was “so small that you can touch the walls with your hands.”

In May, CDCR transferred 121 inmates from the California Institution for Men in Chino to San Quentin, which the ruling says was “the catalyst of the outbreak.” Some of the transferred prisoners were already ill upon entering the facility, with several testing positive after arriving.

During this time, the these inmates shared showers and ate in the same dining hall as other inmates, the ruling states, citing a New York Times article.

“We respectfully disagree with the court’s determination,” CDCR spokeswoman Dana Simas said in an email, according to the Mercury News. “CDCR has taken extensive actions to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since March, the department has released more than 22,000 persons, resulting in the lowest prison population in decades.”

The full ruling can be read here.