Old North News

A Wake County Superior Court judge said that North Carolina is not fully complying with a June order to provide information about COVID-19 testing at state prisoners and other related data from last month's mandate. 

At the heart of Wake County Superior Court Judge Vinston Rozier, Jr.'s ruling was the possible unconstitutional conditions at the state's prisons during the coronavirus pandemic.  

Displeased with the state's response to this point, the judge appointed a liaison to monitor the state's progress to provide the necessary data and set a deadline of Monday, July 27 to hand over the information. The judge also wants the state to provide a plan to stop COVID-19 from spreading within the jail confines. 

In June, the judge required the Department of Public Safety to develop a COVID-19 testing plan for staffers and prisoners, curtail transferring of inmates, document disparities that may exist between facilities' responses to the pandemic and have a plan to release certain offenders early, the Carolina Public Press reported in a July 11 article published on North Carolina Health News' website. The Department of Public Safety is responsible for the state's prison system. 

However, during the hearing on July 10, the judge determined that North Carolina has failed to comply with the initial order. He said, according to the Carolina Public Press report, that the state "willfully failed"  to follow the June mandate. 

The concerns at the prisons were initially brought to court in a suit from the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina with other interested parties. 

“The court has been clear about the responsibilities that the defendants have under the Constitution, to keep people alive and safe during this pandemic,” Leah Kang, ACLU attorney, said, the Carolina Public Press reported.