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Supervisors urge state action to cut San Quentin population, add free testing and PPE after outbreak
Summary
By unanimous vote the board called on state officials to reduce San Quentin State Prison population and provide free COVID-19 testing and PPE after a rapid outbreak that left hundreds of inmates and staff infected and several hospitalized.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously adopted a resolution on July 7 urging Governor Gavin Newsom, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and San Quentin officials to take immediate steps to reduce the prison population and provide free coronavirus testing and personal protective equipment to incarcerated people and staff.
Supervisor Preston, who introduced the resolution, described a rapidly worsening outbreak at San Quentin: "As of yesterday, there are more than 1,400 inmates who have tested COVID-19 positive in San Quentin," he said, adding that more than 165 employees had also tested positive, 65 incarcerated people had been hospitalized and six inmates had died.
Preston said the state's initial plan to release about 100 people from San Quentin under existing mechanisms did not meet the scale of the crisis. "The response has been completely inadequate," he said, and he described current releases as "nothing that even approaches the need in terms of reducing overcrowding."
The board approved a non-substantive amendment to add the word "free" to a clause calling for testing and PPE, so the resolution now explicitly requests that testing and protective equipment be provided at no cost to incarcerated people and staff. The motion to amend and the final resolution passed by roll call with all 11 supervisors voting in favor.
Supervisors noted on the record that organized actions within the prison, including hunger strikes and outreach by incarcerated journalists and advocates, had drawn attention to conditions inside the facility. The resolution calls on state and corrections officials to expand releases where appropriate, provide adequate and free testing and PPE, and take other measures to protect people at San Quentin.
The board sent the resolution to state leaders and the warden with a unanimous vote recorded at the meeting.
