Governor Kate Brown of Oregon will now have to face prisoners at court over her handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, the Judge forced healthy and sick inmates to continue to live close to one another while also not offering inmates vaccines, which weren’t widely available until February of 2021.
A magistrate judge has ruled the lawsuit credible and set a class-action eligibility standard. The eligibility standard is that you were a prisoner between February of 2020 and February of 2021 and caught Covid-19 14 days or more after becoming incarcerated. In addition to the Governor being sued, so are key members of her then Covid-19 task force.
The prison is not included in the lawsuit as its actions were mostly required due to the Governor’s orders.
Federal judge grants class-action status to Oregon’s COVID-sickened prisoners
From ktvz.com
2022-04-06 05:16:33
Excerpt:
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A federal judge has certified a class-action lawsuit in Oregon over state leaders’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic inside its prisons.
A group of adults in custody who contracted COVID-19 first sued the state in April 2020, alleging culpability by Gov. Kate Brown, Corrections Department Director Colette Peters and Health Authority Director Patrick Allen, among other state officials. The lawsuit acknowledges Corrections has taken some measures but argues they have not been enough.
“This really is quite a groundbreaking order, and decision, and it could potentially be a model for advocates in other parts of the country where they’re having similar problems,” Corene Kendrick, deputy director of the American Civil Liberty Union’s National Prison Project, told Oregon Public Broadcasting this week.
In Oregon, 45 people in the Department of Corrections custody have so far died after testing positive for COVID-19, and more than…
