
HARTFORD, CT — The Connecticut American Civil Liberties Union has filed a second lawsuit – this time in federal court – against Gov. Ned Lamont and Correction Commissioner Rollin Cook seeking to obtain release or better protections for medically fragile inmates as COVID-19 spreads through the state’s prisons.
The first lawsuit filed in state court on April 3 by the CT ACLU seeks the release of inmates, better health care and better social distancing practices is still pending.
The second lawsuit filed late Monday in U.S. District Court is a class action emergency injunction seeking the release of all medically fragile inmates, including those over the age of 50 and those who are being held “pre-trial,” before their case is complete, and after being sentenced, and greater protections such as masks and gloves and social distancing for those inmates who remain.
A spokesperson for Lamont said the Governor’s office had no comment on the federal lawsuit.
The plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit are six medically fragile inmates including two men over the age of 50 with HIV, a man being held in the Bridgeport Correction Center who has symptoms of COVID-19, and a man in Corrigan-Radgowski Correctional Institute who shares showers, phones and common space with 80 men in his unit.
But the class action lawsuit is representing all inmates, whether they are being held while a case is being adjudicated or are serving a sentence post-conviction, representatives from the CT ACLU said.
Both lawsuits contend that Lamont and Cook have not done enough, including release enough prisoners, to allow those who remain incarcerated to spread out in the hopes of stopping the disease from blowing through state prisons.
“The DOC’s reactive, backward approach to COVID-19 has made Connecticut prisons and jails among the most dangerous, unhealthy places anyone could be during this pandemic. The DOC’s response has exacerbated the crisis and threatens public health as a whole,” said Dan Barrett, CT ACLU legal director and an attorney on the case. “Incarcerated people are in grave and immediate danger in DOC facilities, and Governor Lamont and Commissioner Cook have a constitutional and moral responsibility to move them out of harm’s way, including by compassionately releasing people.”
As of Monday, 202 DOC employees and 293 inmates have tested positive for COVID-19 which causes fever, cough and difficulty breathing. One inmate has died. DOC officials have moved 183 inmates who have tested positive to an isolation unit at Northern Correctional Institution.
More than two dozen staff members have returned to work after testing positive and 101 inmates were returned to their original facilities after being taken to Northern to be treated for the disease.
Statewide 20,360 residents have tested positive for COVID-19 and 1,423 have died as of Tuesday. People over 60 and those with prior medical conditions are more likely to suffer complications or die from the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
“The numbers and stories coming out of Connecticut prisons and jails paint a horrific portrait of people left by Cook and Lamont to suffer and potentially die in a pandemic,” Barrett said. “We are asking the court to do what they have failed to do and protect incarcerated people now.”
The federal lawsuit contends that those who are in congregate settings, such a prisons, have a greater chance of catching the disease which is passed through air droplets from people who may or may not be exhibiting symptoms.
“It is virtually impossible for people who are confined in prisons, jails and detention centers to engage in the necessary social distancing and hygiene required to mitigate the risk of transmission of the disease,” the federal lawsuit said.
Support authentic, locally owned and operated public service journalism!
The CT ACLU wants all medically fragile inmates to be released and a plan created to allow for better social distancing for those who remain incarcerated. That plan would have to include the release of more inmates if social distancing remains difficult to accomplish, the CT ACLU said.
More than 50 members of the Yale University medical, public health and nursing facility also sent Lamont a letter Tuesday asking for greater protections for inmates including compassionate release and housing opportunities in hotels and dorms.
More COVID-19 Coverage

Connecticut To Get FEMA Funds for COVID Testing Sites
Connecticut will receive more than $2 million in federal emergency funding to pay for the operation of COVID-19 testing sites during a six-month period last year, the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced Monday. The roughly $2.15 million will come from FEMA’s public assistance grant program and will be used to reimburse state funds used to…
Keep reading
COVID Transmission Increases in CT
As of Friday afternoon, Connecticut’s test positivity rate was 13.71% and there were 323 residents hospitalized with the virus. On Thursday, the Department of Public Health reported that 158 of Connecticut’s 169 municipalities qualified for the state’s “red alert” distinction for COVID-19, which is triggered when a community records at least 15 daily cases per…
Keep reading
Connecticut At High, Medium Risk of COVID Transmission
Connecticut’s COVID-19 test positivity rating was 10.35% on Thursday and all eight Connecticut counties were in the medium yellow or high orange categories on the CDC’s community spread map. Those community maps, created by the CDC in February, are supposed to tell people to take preventative steps such as masking and testing. Hartford, Middlesex and…
Keep reading
Advocates Make 11th Hour Pitch For Compassionate Release
Hartford, CT — Advocates seeking compassionate release from prison during public health emergencies like COVID rallied at the state Capitol hours before they saw their legislation die without action in either chamber. At the rally on Wednesday, protestors and advocates were demanding action from legislators to pass a bill that addresses COVID in prisons. The…
Keep reading
Legislating During COVID-19
The legislative session ends in three days now, that’s shorter than the amount of time someone should quarantine under CDC standards if they have COVID-19, so how are lawmakers coping? Sen. Saud Anwar, D-South Windsor, started experiencing symptoms two weeks ago and tested positive for COVID-19. Luckily the session wasn’t scheduled until last Tuesday, but…
Keep reading
Study Shows Union Nursing Homes Had Lower Rates of COVID-19
A recent study published by Health Affairs found that unionized nursing homes had lower resident COVID-19 mortality rates. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, nursing home residents have accounted for roughly one of every six COVID-19 deaths in the United States. Nursing homes have also been very dangerous places for workers, with more than…
Keep reading
Senator Murphy Tests Positive For COVID
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy announced on Twitter that he tested positive for COVID-19. “FYI after feeling mild symptoms overnight, I tested positive for COVID this morning. We’ve done the contact tracing and let people know. It’s a bummer, but I’m sure if I wasn’t fully vaccinated I would be feeling a lot worse. So remember…
Keep reading
COVID Cases Tick Back Up
Most of Gov. Ned Lamont’s executive orders, which were extended to April 15 by the legislature, have now expired just as Connecticut’s test positivity rate for COVID-19 is creeping back up and students at UConn are being asked to mask up again, starting today. According to the Department of Public Health, Connecticut recorded 3,939 positive…
Keep reading
House Green Lights Extension of COVID-19 Laws
The House gave final passage Wednesday to a package of four concepts that had been executive orders and are now law. Previously, the concepts were executive orders to address the COVID-19 pandemic.
Keep reading
Tong Tests Positive For COVID-19
Attorney General William Tong has tested positive for COVID-19. He is experiencing mild symptoms and quarantining at home.
Keep reading
Lieutenant Gov. Tests Positive For COVID-19, Days After Gov
Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz tested positive for the COVID-19 virus during a routine rapid test over the weekend, her chief staff said in a Monday morning statement. Bysiewicz’s results follow Gov. Ned Lamont, who tested positive late last week. “I have tested positive for COVID-19,” Bysiewicz wrote on Twitter. “Thanks to the vaccine and booster…
Keep reading
Lamont Tests Positive for COVID-19
Gov. Ned Lamont tested positive for COVID-19 Thursday. The results from two rapid tests were positive and he’s awaiting the results of a PCR test, according to this staff. The 68-year-old governor received his second booster exactly a week ago, but has made it through the first two years of the pandemic without contracting the…
Keep reading
New Initiative Allows Same Day COVID Testing And Treatment
Hundreds of pharmacies and federally qualified community health centers across Connecticut are now offering COVID testing and treatments to patients at the same time and place. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, these test-to-treat sites provide antiviral medication to hundreds of locations across the U.S, who then distribute them to patients…
Keep reading
YNHH Top Doc Boosts 2nd Boosters
If you’re eligible to get a second Covid-19 booster shot, go get it. Especially if you’re over 50 and have an underlying medical condition like diabetes that puts you at “high risk” of contracting a severe case of COVID. Read more from the New Haven Independent.
Keep reading
Federal COVID Funds To Limit Tax Relief In An Election Year
Like all states, Connecticut accepted billions of dollars from the federal government for COVID-19 relief, but that money limits how much the state can now consider cutting taxes. It’s bubbling up as a point of contention as lawmakers race to adjust the two-year state budget, which is currently experiencing a record surplus. Connecticut is expected…
Keep reading