Our voices will not be ignored. Our stories will not be forgotten.

A brief reflection on COVID-19 and mass incarceration in Texas

I am the Peer Policy Fellow for the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition. I am also a member of the Statewide Leadership Council, a group of system-impacted individuals who advocate at the state level to end mass incarceration. I was honored when the Texas After Violence Project reached out to me to join the project team Sheltering Justice, an initiative that documents and archives stories at the intersection of COVID-19 and the criminal justice system, because every day I hear from family members that fear their loved ones are suffering in prison and are worried they may not make it out alive. They fear that a two-year sentence could easily become a death sentence if their loved one contracts COVID-19. They feel powerless. They want to do more to help their incarcerated loved ones. They want to share their stories.

In early March, as the novel coronavirus began to infiltrate the US, our immediate concern at the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition was for those who are incarcerated in Texas jails and prisons. I am a formerly incarcerated person and I know that the medical care inside Texas prisons is deplorable, and that’s on a good day. I remember being in a dorm of 58 women and if one of them coughed or sneezed the whole dorm was at risk of catching whatever might have been brought in. There is no air circulation and during the summer months the dorms are just stagnant heat. I feared for those who are inside Texas prisons because I knew that once the coronavirus got inside prisons it would be uncontrollable.

That same month, several community activists, attorneys, and criminal justice reform experts and leaders sent a letter to Governor Abbott concerning the urgent need for a rapid response to the crisis in Texas prisons. The letter included a list of recommendations to mitigate COVID-19 spreading like wildfire within the walls of Texas prisons, especially for vulnerable populations, such as elderly inmates. The Governor never even acknowledged our letter.

Families and activists across Texas continue to push the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) to take action to save the lives of incarcerated people. We started a petition that collected nearly 8,000 signatures along with a social media campaign with the hashtags #SaferAtHome and #FreeThemAll.

In April, several organizations issued another appeal to the Governor to accelerate the release of elderly and medically vulnerable inmates. Again, we did get not a single response. On May 23rd, members from family groups across Texas gathered at the Governor’s Mansion in Austin to rally for the release of their loved ones. With masks and social distancing, we gathered peacefully and demanded Governor Abbott to use his executive powers to release every inmate that was already eligible for parole. Public data from the TDCJ showed that 15,000 people were eligible for parole.

Once a week a group of family advocacy organizations meet virtually with TDCJ officials to get updates on the number of coronavirus infections and where advocates are able to voice our concerns. Each week we highlight inhumane conditions, such as inedible sack lunches, extreme heat, and negligent medical care. These inhumane conditions aren’t new; in many ways, the coronavirus pandemic has only illuminated the prison system for what it really is and what it always has been.

On August 22nd, as part of the National Day of Freedom & Justice, advocacy groups from across Texas will gather in Huntsville to participate in the “Freedom Ring” to honor those whose lives are being impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and mass incarceration in Texas.

We continue to organize these actions because we know people are terrified, both inside and outside the walls. The correspondence I receive from family members and currently incarcerated people drive me to press on even though it is easy to feel discouraged and to feel like nobody is listening to our pleas. People who are incarcerated in Texas prisons and their loved ones just want to be heard. Just because we can’t see them behind the walls doesn’t mean they do not exist. Always remember that every inmate ID number is a real live human being. Somebody’s mother, father, grandfather, grandmother, son, daughter, sister, brother, friend. We are all loved and valued by someone. We are more than what led us to incarceration. Our voices will not be ignored. Our stories will not be forgotten.

Maggie Luna serves on the Sheltering Justice project team. She is the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health Peer Policy Fellow for the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, where she creates advocacy opportunities for system-impacted Texans. Maggie also helps to coordinate the Statewide Leadership Council, which elevates the voices of system-impacted people in local and state policy reform.