'I fear for my life': Prisoners in New York City jails sound alarm as coronavirus spreads
“我為我的生命擔憂”:當冠狀病毒蔓延時，紐約監獄的囚犯們發出了警報
Jon Schuppe Jon Schuppe
NBC News NBC新聞March 31, 2020, 6:30 AM GMT+82020年3月31日，格林尼治標準時間早上6:30 +8
On the morning of March 15, amid escalating fears about the COVID-19 outbreak, a 62-year-old educational consultant showed up at the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York for a flight to Trinidad, where he planned to attend a funeral, he said. But police stopped the consultant at the gate and arrested him under a year-old warrant, alleging he’d given bogus information for a state identification card in New Jersey.
3月15日上午，隨著對covid19病毒爆發的擔憂不斷升級，一名62歲的教育顧問出現在紐約肯尼迪國際機場(John F. Kennedy International Airport)，準備飛往特立尼達，他說他計劃在那裡參加一個葬禮。但警方在門口截住了這名顧問，並根據一年前的逮捕令逮捕了他，指控他為新澤西州的州身份證提供虛假信息。
The arrest led the consultant into New York‘s notoriously brutal and unsanitary jail system, where COVID-19 was beginning to spread.
這次逮捕把這位顧問帶進了紐約臭名昭著的殘忍和不衛生的監獄系統，在那裡，COVID-19開始傳播。
The consultant, who spoke on condition that he be identified only by his first name, Bill, knew jail would be terrible. But he said he was shaken by an apparent lack of protection against the coronavirus for inmates and workers.
這位顧問要求只透露自己的名字比爾(Bill)，他知道坐牢會很可怕。但他說，囚犯和工作人員明顯缺乏對冠狀病毒的防護，這讓他感到震驚。
His first night in the Vernon C. Bain Center, a floating jail in the East River, was spent on a floor, lying back-to-back with other men, “like a slave ship,” he said. Then he was assigned to a dorm at the floating jail where inmates — many of them charged with nonviolent crimes or parole violations — bunked about 3 feet apart, ate at communal tables, shared toilets, showers and phones and had soap but no masks, disinfectant or alcohol wipes to keep their detention space clean, he said. New inmates arrived, others left. Corrections officers guarded them without much protective gear beyond gloves. They tracked news of the virus’ spread on the day-room television.
他在東河(East River)上浮動監獄弗農c貝恩中心(Vernon C. Bain Center)度過的第一個晚上是在地板上度過的，和其他男人背靠背地躺在一起，“就像一艘奴隸船，”他說。然後他被分配到一個宿舍在浮動監獄囚犯——他們中的許多人指控非暴力犯罪或違反假釋,亦曾約3英尺,吃在公共餐桌,共享馬桶,淋浴和手機和soap,但沒有面具,消毒劑或酒精擦拭以保持他們的拘留空間乾淨,他說。新囚犯來了，其他人離開了。獄警看守他們，除了手套外沒有多少防護裝備。他們追蹤了客廳電視上有關病毒傳播的新聞。
“We were left to our own defenses,” Bill recalled. “We didn’t know what was going to happen to us with the virus. We were in cramped quarters where no one really cared.”
“我們只能靠自己去辯護，”比爾回憶說。“我們不知道病毒會發生什麼。我們住在擁擠的房間裡，沒有人真正關心我們。”
Image: The Vernon C. Bain Correctional Center, a prison barge off the coast of the Bronx, at Rikers Island. (David Howells / Corbis via Getty Images file)
圖片:弗農C.貝恩懲教中心，一艘監獄駁船在布朗克斯海岸外的萊克島。(大衛·豪威爾斯/ Corbis通過蓋蒂圖片庫)
That sense of being stalked by a deadly disease without being able to defend against it pervades New York City jails, according to inmates, reform advocates, defense lawyers, health officials and the union representing corrections officers. So far, 167 inmates and 114 Department of Correction staff members have tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, signs that it is being transmitted inside facilities and following those who are infected as they return to outside communities.
據獄友、改革派人士、辯護律師、衛生官員和代表獄警的工會表示，這種被一種致命疾病跟蹤卻無力防範的感覺，瀰漫在紐約市的監獄裡。迄今為止，167名囚犯和114名懲教署工作人員的covid19檢測結果呈陽性。covid19是一種由冠狀病毒引起的疾病，有跡象表明這種病毒正在監獄內傳播，並在那些感染者返回社區外後繼續傳播。
Do you have a story to share about how the coronavirus is affecting the criminal justice system? 關於冠狀病毒如何影響刑事司法系統，你有什麼故事要分享嗎?Contact us 聯繫我們
The experience in New York, which is the center of the American outbreak with more than 36,000 cases as of Monday, could replay in cities and counties across the country, public health experts say. Jails may act as COVID-19 incubators, sickening and killing inmates and workers and spreading the disease to the broader public.
公共衛生專家說，截至週一，紐約是美國疫情爆發的中心，有超過3.6萬例病例。紐約的情況可能會在全國的各市和縣重演。監獄可能扮演著covid19孵化器的角色，使囚犯和工人患病或死亡，並將疾病傳播給更廣泛的公眾。
“They're all ticking time bombs,” said James Manfre, a former sheriff in Flagler County, Florida, and a member of the Law Enforcement Action Partnership, a nonprofit that advocates for the reduction of jail and prison populations. “County jails will suffer the most because they’re the ones that cycle people in and out the quickest.”
“它們都是定時炸彈，”佛羅里達州弗拉格勒縣(Flagler County)的前治安官、執法行動夥伴組織(Law Enforcement Action Partnership)的成員詹姆斯·曼弗雷(James Manfre)說。“縣監獄將遭受最大的損失，因為它們是讓人進出最快的地方。”
There are indications that COVID-19 is beginning to spread in lockups around the country. Jail inmates have tested positive in Illinois, NewJersey, California, Texas, Louisiana, Georgia, South Dakota and Washington, D.C. Inmates or staff members have tested positive at state prisons in California, Louisiana, Michigan, Texas, New York and Georgia. The federal Bureau of Prisons says 19 inmates and 19 staff members have tested positive; one inmate has died.
有跡象表明，COVID-19已經開始在全國範圍內被禁閉。伊利諾伊州、新澤西州、加利福尼亞州、得克薩斯州、路易斯安那州、喬治亞州、南達科他州和華盛頓特區的監獄裡的囚犯或工作人員在加利福尼亞州、路易斯安那州、密歇根州、得克薩斯州、紐約州和喬治亞州的監獄裡的檢測結果呈陽性。美國聯邦監獄管理局表示，19名囚犯和19名工作人員的檢測結果呈陽性;一名囚犯死亡。
Authorities in many parts of the country are scrambling to respond, cutting down on arrests, suspending trials and court hearings, banning jail visits, screening staff as they come to work, isolating ill inmates and releasing detainees deemed low risk to the public.
中國許多地方的有關部門正在迅速做出反應，減少逮捕，暫停審判和法庭聽證會，禁止探訪監獄，在工作人員上班時對他們進行篩查，隔離生病的囚犯，釋放被認為對公眾風險較低的囚犯。
Full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak 全面報道冠狀病毒爆發
Los Angeles County, which has America’s largest jail system, says it has no confirmed COVID-19 cases behind bars, but has released 1,700 inmates to try to prevent a spread. In Cook County, Illinois, which includes Chicago, 24 inmates and nine workers have tested positive as authorities work to release detainees accused of low-level crimes. New Jersey, South Carolina, Iowa, Nashville, Tennessee, and Cuyahoga County, Ohio, have made similar moves.
擁有美國最大監獄系統的洛杉磯縣表示，目前還沒有確認的19起刑事案件，但該縣已經釋放了1700名囚犯，以防止疫情擴散。在包括芝加哥在內的伊利諾伊州庫克縣，24名囚犯和9名工作人員的檢測結果呈陽性，當局正努力釋放被控輕度犯罪的囚犯。新澤西州、南卡羅來納州、愛荷華州、田納西州的納什維爾和俄亥俄州的凱霍加縣也採取了類似的措施。
Attorney General William Barr has ordered the Bureau of Prisons to allow more offenders to serve time in home confinement, but inmate advocates and some Congress members want the Department of Justice to do more, including expanding the release of elderly and ill inmates.
美國司法部長巴爾(William Barr)已下令美國監獄管理局(Bureau of Prisons)允許更多犯人在家服刑，但囚犯權益倡導人士和一些國會議員希望司法部(Department of Justice)採取更多措施，包括擴大釋放老年和患病囚犯。
Image: The Rikers Island jail complex in New York in 2014. (Seth Wenig / AP file)
圖片:2014年紐約的賴克斯島監獄。(Seth Wenig / AP文件)
In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio has ordered the release of 75 jail inmates nearing the end of their sentences for nonviolent offenses, and has said he wants to release about 300 more. But that’s a small fraction of the 4,636inmates in the city’s jails, 3,000 of whom are waiting for trial and 1,300 of whom are being held for violations of parole or probation. The city’s Board of Correction, which monitors jail conditions, has implored authorities to release more than 2,000 inmates who are elderly, ill or accused of nonviolent offenses.
在紐約市，市長比爾·德布拉西奧下令釋放75名因非暴力犯罪即將刑滿的囚犯，並表示他希望再釋放大約300名囚犯。但這只是該市4,636名囚犯中的一小部分，其中3,000人正在等待審判，1,300人因違反假釋或緩刑而被關押。負責監督監獄狀況的市監獄矯正委員會(Board of Correction)懇求有關部門釋放2,000多名老年、患病或被控非暴力犯罪的囚犯。
Last week, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, said he would approve the release of 1,100 jail inmates held on alleged parole violations, a number that would likely include a few hundred in New York City. On Friday, the Legal Aid Society said it has persuaded a judge to order the release of 106 accused of minor violations of parole.
上週，紐約州州長、民主黨人安德魯·科莫(Andrew Cuomo)表示，他將批准釋放1100名涉嫌違反假釋規定的囚犯，這其中可能包括紐約市的幾百人。週五，法律援助協會表示，他們已經說服法官下令釋放106名被控輕度違反假釋的人。
“It’s important for everyone to realize they are not separate from the community. We are all together. But they don’t have a chance because they are locked up in crowded, dirty conditions and that puts everyone at risk,” said Dr. Robert Cohen, a member of the board who ran medical services on Rikers Island, the city’s main jail complex, during the AIDS crisis. “Wherever possible, the number of people should be cut down to decrease the risk to people working and living in jail. It’s a public health action that will save lives.”
“重要的是每個人都要意識到他們並不是獨立於社會之外的。我們都在一起。但他們沒有機會，因為他們被關在擁擠、骯髒的環境中，這讓每個人都處於危險之中，”羅伯特·科恩(Robert Cohen)博士說。他是董事會成員，在艾滋病危機期間，曾在該市主要的監獄設施賴克斯島(Rikers Island)經營醫療服務。“只要有可能，就應該減少在押人員數量，以降低在押人員的工作和生活風險。這是一項拯救生命的公共衛生行動。”
Michael Skelly, spokesman for the New York City Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association, which represents jail guards, said the city took too long to shut down in-person inmate visits, increase segregation of at-risk inmates and supply staff with enough gloves, masks and hand sanitizer. The focus on releasing inmates has overshadowed the plight of corrections officers, he said.
代表監獄看守的紐約市管教官員慈善協會(New York City Correction Officers’Association)發言人邁克爾·斯凱利(Michael Skelly)說，紐約市花了太長時間才關閉了對囚犯的探訪，增加了對有危險囚犯的隔離，並向工作人員提供了足夠的手套、口罩和洗手液。他說，對釋放囚犯的關注給獄警的困境蒙上了陰影。
“We’re at the epicenter of the epicenter,” Skelly said. “You want to talk about social distancing, but you have housing areas in jails that are 50 inmates to one officer, or almost 100 to one.”
“我們在震中的中心，”Skelly說。“你想談論社會距離，但你在監獄裡的住房面積是50人對一名獄警，或近100人對一名獄警。”
Some inmates said in interviews that they felt for the officers who guarded them.
一些犯人在採訪中說，他們對看守他們的警察很同情。
“The officers are terrified,” one man locked up on an alleged parole violation said in a brief phone interview from a dormitory-style detention center on Rikers Island. He spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear that it could jeopardize his case. “They’re more sympathetic to us. They look at it as we’re in it together.”
“警官們嚇壞了，”一名被控違反假釋的男子在賴克斯島一座類似宿舍的拘留所接受簡短電話採訪時說。由於擔心此事會危及他的案子，他要求匿名。“他們更同情我們。他們看這件事就像我們在一起一樣。”
The New York City Department of Correction, which runs the city’s jails, said in a statement that it is taking a number of steps to protect workers and inmates, including screenings, “robust sanitation protocols,” promoting social distancing and handing out soap and cleaning supplies. The agency also said it was trying to space out dormitory sleeping assignments, or have inmates sleep “head-to-toe.”
管理紐約市監獄的紐約市矯正局(New York City Department of Correction)在一份聲明中表示，它正在採取一系列措施來保護工人和囚犯，包括篩查、“嚴格的衛生協議”，促進社交距離，發放肥皂和清潔用品。該機構還表示，他們正試圖將宿舍睡眠分配隔開，或者讓犯人“從頭到腳”睡覺。
“The health and well-being of our personnel and people in custody is our top priority,” the department said in a statement.
“我們的人員和在押人員的健康和福祉是我們的首要任務，”美國國務院在一份聲明中表示。
But Kelsey De Avila, head of jail services at Brooklyn Defender Services, a public defender agency, said the city’s responses were inadequate.
但公共辯護機構布魯克林辯護服務(Brooklyn Defender services)的監獄服務主管凱爾西·德阿維拉(Kelsey De Avila)表示，紐約市的回應力度不夠。
“We are running against the clock,” she said. “Our health care system is already overwhelmed and it’s going to get worse in coming days and weeks and we could really help ease that burden by not putting people in jails who’ll be exposed to the virus.”
“我們在和時間賽跑，”她說。“我們的醫療系統已經不堪重負，在未來幾天或幾周內情況還會變得更糟，我們可以通過不把接觸到病毒的人關進監獄來減輕這種負擔。”
Another Rikers inmate, who asked to be identified only by his first name, Tyrell, said he has watched several other men fall ill and be removed from his dormitory without any explanation. New inmates have been assigned the empty beds with little apparent cleaning, he said.
另一名賴克斯監獄的犯人提利爾(Tyrell)要求只透露自己的名字。他說，他看到其他幾個人也病倒了，在沒有任何解釋的情況下就被從宿舍裡趕了出來。他說，新囚犯被分配到空床上，幾乎沒有明顯的清潔工作。
“I fear for my life,” Tyrell, 30, who is being held on a parole violation, said. “I don’t want to catch coronavirus. I came here healthy and I don’t want to leave here with it.”
“我擔心我的生命安全，”30歲的提利爾說。“我不想感染冠狀病毒。我健康地來到這裡，我不想帶著它離開這裡。”
Download the 下載NBC News app NBC新聞應用程序 for full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak 為全面報道冠狀病毒爆發
Junior Wilson, 57, in Rikers for an alleged grand larceny and parole violation, said the mood had turned dismal.
57歲的朱尼爾·威爾遜(Junior Wilson)因涉嫌重大盜竊案和違反假釋規定在賴克斯(Rikers)服刑。
“They’re not giving us hardly anything to clean with, the bare minimum. Little spray bottles to spray this or that down,” Watson said. “It’s just ridiculous. They’re slowly killing us in here.”
“他們幾乎沒有給我們任何清潔的東西，這是最起碼的。用小噴霧瓶把這個或那個噴下來，”沃森說。“這只是荒謬。他們在這裡慢慢地殺害我們。”
Bill, the educational consultant, considers himself lucky. A divorced former lawyer who lives paycheck to paycheck, he spent six days stuck in the floating jail while Legal Aid Society lawyers tried to persuade prosecutors to release him — along with dozens of other people accused of low-level crimes. He was let go after New Jersey prosecutors said that, because of the coronavirus’ impact on the court system, they’d dropped their request to have him extradited from New York.
教育顧問比爾認為自己很幸運。他曾是一名離婚的律師，靠工資生活。他在流動監獄裡呆了6天，而法律援助協會的律師們試圖說服檢察官釋放他，以及其他幾十名被控低級別犯罪的人。新澤西檢察官說，由於冠狀病毒對法院系統的影響，他們放棄了將他從紐約引渡的要求，之後他被釋放。
Bill said he has been feeling ill since his March 20 release, and has been self-isolating at home in New Jersey. He’s also thinking of those who remain in jail.
比爾說，自從3月20日獲釋以來，他一直感到不舒服，在新澤西州的家中感到孤獨。他也在考慮那些仍在監獄裡的人。
“There was a lot of uncertainty and fear,” he said. “We were told to wash our hands and to avoid contact with each other but the reality was that there was no prevention whatsoever. There was nothing being done to protect us.”
“有很多不確定性和恐懼，”他說。“我們被告知要洗手，避免相互接觸，但事實是根本沒有預防措施。沒有采取任何措施來保護我們。”
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