response to covid-19 

PAN supports our communities and networks as we take steps to mitigate the exposure of COVID-19, novel coronavirus. PAN is presently supporting efforts at the local, statewide, and national level to release people who are at high risk for the virus, in light of these developments.  Given the Shelter-In-Place order throughout California, we are making adjustments to our volunteer-run project so that we can continue our legal/confidential mail with our correspondents, and the hearts of this project. We are grateful for your patience with us, as we are now only able to pick up mail every two weeks from the NLG office. 
Your Responsibility When Using This Information: ​
The Guides created by the Prisoner Advocacy Network are not intended to give legal advice, but rather general legal information. No attorney-client relationship is created by using any information in the guides. You should consult an attorney for legal advice specific to your situation. When putting together the COVID-19 related guides we did our best to give useful and accurate information because we know that people who are currently or formerly incarcerated often have difficulty getting legal information. However, the laws change frequently and are subject to differing interpretations. Prisoner Advocacy Network does not have the resources to make changes to this material every time the law changes. If you use this information, it is your responsibility to make sure that the law has not changed and applies to your particular situation. Most of the materials you need should be available in a law library. 

We encourage the use of this material, please share the guides with your loved ones and networks, we ask that you credit Prisoner Advocacy Network. Please note that the COVID-19 Guides, including its Declaration Guide, 602 Appeals Guide, and Self-Help Litigation Guide ​© 2020 by Prisoner Advocacy Network. RESALE OF THIS MATERIAL IS PROHIBITED. Please email pan@nlgsf.org for any questions that you may have.

PAN COVID-19 Resource Guides

Below please find resources that PAN put together in response to the COVID crisis in 2020.
PAN’s COVID-19 Guides, including its Declaration Guide, 602 Appeals Guide, and Self-Help Litigation Guide, are not intended to give legal advice, but rather general legal information. When putting this Guide together, we did our best to give you useful and accurate information because we know that people who are currently or formerly incarcerated often have difficulty getting legal information. We will be updating these resources often as things change quickly. You will see a date on the guide. Please check back regularly or sign up for our email list to get updated versions. PAN COVID-19 Guides can be found below. 
Guides

other COVID-19 resources

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In support of our comrades at Color Of Change and Essie Justice Group, who have recently launched the Lives On The Line Campaign. Led by women with incarcerated loved ones, Lives On The Line centers the experiences of the mothers, daughters, partners, and sisters of people inside prisons, jails, and immigrant detention centers. It is an urgent fight to bring our loved ones home.  Please fill out the survey with your experience of having an incarcerated loved one during the COVID-19 crisis.  We encourage you to learn more about the resources our community is providing during this time and share them with your networks. Please refer to the resources created by these organizations as they provide a hub of essential information, guides, and policy recommendations during this time of action.
  • Prisoner Support Guide For The Coronavirus Crisis is a guide created by Beyond Prisons to help people through this public health crisis.
  • The UCSF Amend Team developed real-time strategies and guidance for correctional facilities grappling with the life threatening challenges of COVID-19. Providing comprehensive recommendations for elected officials, correctional system leadership, correctional healthcare providers, and incarcerated patients and their families will be added frequently so continue to check this page for updates. 
  • The Prison Holistic Self Care & Protection resource serves as a guide to help protect you during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was compiled by formerly incarcerated people, advocates, and natural healers to provide helpful tips to care for your body and mind during these challenging times.​​
  • The UCSF Amend team has created a handout on Information for Residents of Correctional Facilities: Frequently Asked Questions about the COVID-19 Vaccine
  • The Justice Collaborative has a wealth of responses & resources regarding COVID-19. Including decarceral guidelines, factsheets, and policy. 
  • The University of California-Irvine (UCI) has collaborated on an initiative called PrisonPandemic, which aims to raise public awareness of the Coronavirus crisis in California's prisons. The website features first-hand accounts from those experiencing the pandemic in a prison setting, through letters and recorded phone calls collected via the project’s anonymous hotline. It also contains an interactive map of California that provides statistics for users to learn about the severity of the virus and the toll it has taken on specific prisons across the state. 
  • ​​Courts, Prisons, Jails, and Parole Board
  • Video Guides to Getting People Out 
  • Where to send requests​
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​WHAT’S HAPPENING WITH THE COURTS, PRISONS, JAILS, AND PAROLE BOARD IN CALIFORNIA?

CDCR Related Updates:
  • PAN's Data visualization of charts and graphs about COVID in CDCR.
  • CDCR's updates are posted daily here 
    • CDCR is tracking cases of individuals tested, confirmed, recovered and deceased from COVID-19 via an online web tracker. 
    • CDCR has responded as well, including providing frequent updates on a new COVID-19 page on its website. Since March 16, every person entering any work location is verbally screened and restricted entry if they are experiencing symptoms. On March 24, Governor Newsom issued an executive order halting intake into state facilities and juvenile justice facilities for 30 days, redirecting those convicted of felonies to jails. As of March 26, every person entering prisons is subject to touchless temperature reading before being allowed inside. Any non-CDCR/CCHCS/ CALPIA staff are not permitted to enter until further notice. CDCR is limiting transfers of incarcerated people between CDCR facilities.
    • CDCR’s electronic messaging provider, JPay, is now offering reduced-price emails to registered users at its current pilot sites: High Desert State Prison, Kern Valley State Prison, California Institution for Women, Central California Women’s Facility, and Substance Abuse Treatment Facility. Beginning March 31st, free calls will be available from 12:01am to 11:59pm Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.​
  • The Plata and Coleman cases are asking for changes to CDCR's COVID-19 polices. A recent filing in Plata noted that CDCR "may re-open intake into the Reception Centers, re-start transfers out of the Reception Centers to other prisons, and perhaps re-start transfers between prisons as well."
Parole Updates: 
  • In-person parole hearings are delayed for 60 days and any scheduled hearings will be delayed until April 13. 
  • On March 27, CDCR cancelled all in-person legal visits until April 27, with a note that the cancellation may be in place for longer.
  • On March 31, CDCR announced it will expedite the transition to parole for people who have 60 days or less to serve on their sentences and are not currently serving time for a violent crime, domestic violence or a registered sex offender. The group of 3,496 (1,751 - within 30 days of their release date, 1,745 - within 60 days of their release date) CDCR identified “are scheduled to begin as soon as practicable, including within the upcoming days and weeks.” The criteria they selected was:
    • 60 days or less remaining on their sentences (as of March 30, 2020);
    • not serving a current term of incarceration for a violent felony offense, as defined by California Penal Code § 667.5(c);
    • not required to register under Penal Code § 290; and (iv) not serving a current term for a domestic-violence offense.
Court Updates:
​Most trial and appellate courts are closed.
  • California county by county orders and information are here.
  Jail Updates:
  • March 19, Alameda County released 314 people approved for sentence modification at Santa Rita Jail. 
  • March 19, LA County Sheriff released 617 people with 30 days left on their sentence.
  • March 24, L.A. County released 1,700 people from their jail, 6% of its jail population. 
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Initiate Justice and Prisoner Advocacy Network attorney discuss COVID-19 prison release litigation and advocacy on May 13, 2020.

Where to send requests for release due to covid-19 (Via Legal Mail) 


Other Legal Institution Contact Information: 
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