Black Lives Matter Louisville calls for city to free inmates amid coronavirus pandemic

Bobbie Thompson, Ali Muhammad, Tracey Van Dyke and Jenell Proctor had a message Wednesday outside the Louisville Metro Corrections – let our loved ones and others in jail go home.

At a Black Lives Matter Louisville press conference downtown, the four took the mic and urged city and state officials to allow inmates to serve out sentences on home incarceration instead of at the detention center, as confirmed coronavirus cases continue to stay at high levels across the country.

Jail staffers had previously said they would sanitize dorms where confirmed cases were housed and retest inmates who had been housed with those who tested positive, after the first two cases at Metro Corrections were confirmed in May. Inmates who tested positive at that time were moved to negative pressure cells, which filter air before releasing it, on the complex's medical floor (though Van Dyke described the cell where her daughter was quarantined while incarcerated as "a room the size of a closet.")

Van Dyke's daughter has been in jail on drug charges since 2018, she said, and is currently at the Kentucky Correctional Institute for Women in Oldham County. Last October she got sick due to another serious condition, Van Dyke said, and months later she tested positive for the coronavirus. 

"As a mom, you try everything you can to help your children," she said. "It’s really a disheartening feeling when you feel helpless and you can’t do anything."

At a press conference last week, Gov. Andy Beshear said officials were in the final stages of screening inmates who may be eligible to be released early, and up to 700 could receive an early release in coming days. J. Michael Brown, secretary of Gov. Andy Beshear's Executive Cabinet, said at the time that there were 53 active cases of COVID-19 among state prison staff and 379 among inmates, with nine hospitalized. Eight Kentucky inmates who have tested positive have died.

Still, Muhammad said, it's inevitable that the coronavirus will spread when inmates are kept together in close quarters inside a jail. By keeping people imprisoned, he said, "you’re just helping spread it."

"The government, if you care, you’ll do something about this," Muhammad, whose brother is currently incarcerated, said. "Not tomorrow, not next week, you’ll do something about this now."

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Speakers at the press conference encouraged those listening to contribute to the Louisville Community Bail Fund, which was started by the local Black Lives Matter chapter to help get people out of jail and to provide resources for those former inmates once they're out.

Thompson and Proctor both have husbands who are currently in jail – Thompson's son joined her at Wednesday's press conference with a sign that read "Free my daddy."

They have a responsibility, Thompson said, to make sure people on the outside don't forget about those inside.

"There’s some people that can’t even reach out to their family and loved ones to let them know about what’s going on," she said. "That’s why we’re here."

Lucas Aulbach can be reached at laulbach@courier-journal.com, 502-582-4649 or on Twitter @LucasAulbach. Support strong local journalism and subscribe: www.courier-journal.com/lucasa.