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Advisory – Community Groups, Families, and Directly Impacted People to Rally Outside the Capital to Demand Lawmakers Protect Incarcerated People from COVID-19

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**MEDIA ADVISORY**

April 28, 2022

Contact: Yonah Zeitz – 347-201-2768 – yonah@katalcenter.org

Follow online: #FreeThemNowCT | www.katalcenter.org 

Community Groups, Families, and Directly Impacted People to Rally Outside the Capital to Demand Lawmakers Protect Incarcerated People from COVID-19

#FreeThemNowCT Campaign Calls on Lawmakers and Governor Lamont to Act Before Session Ends 

Hartford, CT – On Wednesday, May 4 at 10:00 AM, family members of incarcerated people, community groups, and impacted residents will gather at the State Capitol in Hartford to demand the Connecticut legislature develop a comprehensive and transparent plan to address COVID-19 in jails and prisons in Connecticut. Wednesday marks the last day of the legislative session, and for the third straight year, lawmakers have yet to develop a substantive plan to protect incarcerated people. If Connecticut lawmakers end this year’s session without addressing COVID-19 in jails and prisons, they are continuing to subject incarcerated people to a heightened risk of illness and death. 

  • WHAT: #FreeThemNowCT Rally 
  • WHEN: Wednesday, May 4 from 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
  • WHERE: 210 Capitol Avenue (East Side facing Trinity St) in Hartford, CT
  • WHO: Katal Center, Community Members, Families, Directly Impacted People, Katal Center, and other community groups including Stop Solitary Campaign, New Britain Racial Justice Coalition, One Standard of Justice
  • WATCH LIVE ON INSTAGRAM: @katalcenter

Background: COVID cases continue to spread in correctional facilities in Connecticut, especially with the highly transmissible Omicron BA.2 variant. To date, nearly 90% of the CT state jail and prison population have tested positive for COVID-19 – a rate significantly higher than the general population in the state.  Since the onset of the pandemic, public health experts have repeatedly affirmed that the number one way to protect incarcerated people and mitigate the spread of COVID-19 is further decarceration. After two years, Governor Lamont has failed to address the crisis in prisons and jails, leaving incarcerated people in harms way. Without action from lawmakers, COVID-19 will continue to spread throughout Connecticut jails and prisons, disproportionately impacting Black, brown, and poor people.

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