(Photo by Bob Jagendorf/Getty)
Give the COVID-19 vaccine to prisoners before law-abiding people? Are you out of your freaking mind?
Prisoners should be last. It’s like the old saying goes: “Don’t do the crime if you don’t want to die in an overcrowded prison during a once-in-a-lifetime global pandemic that began after you committed your offense.” Or something like that.
I realize that the American Medical Association has called for COVID-19 vaccines to be given to people who live and work in prisons, jails, and detention centers due to the unique risks people in confinement face and because outbreaks in prison can spread to the local communities. Aside from staff acting as carriers, we know 10,000 people leave prison every week.
I am also aware that an expert from the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security recently told The New York Times that people in prison should be treated like everyone else who is forced to live in a congregate setting. But it’s not like prisoners are six times more likely to be infected with COVID-19 than people outside. They’re only 5.5 times more likely. Relax.
Since when did we start listening to a bunch of egghead doctors anyway? We are Americans. If this pandemic has reminded us of anything, it’s that we don’t listen to a bunch of “medical experts” with their “science” and “life-saving” advice. We know what’s right and wrong. And there’s nothing righter than treating criminals wrong.
Mississippi’s Governor Tate Reeves nailed it early on, when COVID-19 started spreading through the hellscape known as the Mississippi prison system. Reeves said the state would not use “the excuse of a pandemic” to release anyone early, no matter how vulnerable they were. Right on, governor! Seriously, “preventing unnecessary mass casualties” is right up there with “the dog ate my homework” on the list of lame excuses.
Now that the vaccines are ready, this is not time to go soft. That is why I appreciated the response by Colorado’s Governor Jared Polis last week to a draft report prepared by his state’s medical professionals that recommended getting the vaccines to prisoners before healthy elderly people. “There’s no way it’s going to go to prisoners before it goes to people who haven’t committed any crime,” he said. “That’s obvious.” I mean, duh!
Polis’ impeccable logic — that we should prioritize vaccination not by health risk or need but by personal virtue — made me think we should pump the brakes on distribution and implement that approach nationwide. Americans of all ages could be given a Personal Virtue Rating (PVR) to determine when they can receive the vaccine.
People in prison, of course, would have the lowest PVR scores. Then there’d be people like me, who might appear to be successful and contributing members of society on the surface, but who have served time in the past and therefore would score low. How about an 85-year-old man with several comorbidities? He might appear healthwise to be a high priority to receive the vaccine, but shouldn’t we first find out if he ever cheated on his spouse, told an off-color joke, or underpaid his taxes?
We have to have standards. This is not a time to listen to soft-headed leaders like Jesus Christ, who commanded His followers to care for sick prisoners, or Pope Francis, who says we share a common humanity with people in prison — where “but for the grace of God” go we. Spare us the virtue signaling, guys.
I am doing my part, but it’s not easy. I recently heard from a terrified woman whose husband is in prison for selling drugs. The man has several CDC risk factors and very well might die or be permanently compromised if he contracts COVID-19. Recently, several people in his facility tested positive, and because there is no social distancing, there is a good chance it will continue to spread. Would I help? she asked through tears.
I told her that I had two teenage daughters, and while they may face the smallest risk of harm from COVID-19, they were (mostly) sweet and innocent children and therefore deserved the vaccine before her criminal husband. I patiently explained that emergency medical decisions should be guided by personal virtue, not science. I asked if she had considered the fact that lots of prison deaths, however unnecessary medically, might deter others from breaking the law.
I hope she — and the thousands of other families with loved ones in prison — can understand. It’s obvious.
Kevin Ring is a former Capitol Hill staffer, Biglaw partner, and federal lobbyist. He is currently the president of FAMM, a nonprofit, nonpartisan criminal justice reform advocacy group. Back when ATL still had comments, “FREE KEVIN RING” was briefly a meme. You can follow him on Twitter @KevinARing.
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