Prisoners to be freed earlier due to coronavirus
As more Victorian prisons go into lockdown, prisoners have been told they could get out earlier if they behave. But staff say inmate tensions are brewing due to visitor restrictions and fears of the virus.
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Prisoners could be freed months earlier if they behave during coronavirus lockdowns.
But Corrections Commissioner Emma Cassar told the Herald Sun this arrangement is a “privilege, not a right” and vowed to deprive prisoners who act out during the crisis.
It comes as tensions rise within the state’s maximum-security prisons, where the worst inmates have been agitated by visitor bans and even become “paranoid” they could die of the virus.
Prison staff fear a long-term lockdown could tip some over the edge.
“They all know they’re going to be in lockdown for months,’’ a prison source said
“Some of them are trying to settle old scores before that happens. It’s getting pretty hairy out there.”
Prisons including Melbourne Assessment Prison, Metropolitan Remand Centre and Port Phillip Prison are already in partial lockdown.
Under corrections law, prisoners can claim up to four days off their sentence for each day spent in isolation.
Usually prisoners apply for Emergency Management Days if their routine is severely disrupted due to lockdowns.
However EMDs will be automatically applied to prisoner sentences during the COVID-19 crisis, unless they misbehave.
Ms Cassar hoped the measure would keep prisons safe and secure during the stressful months ahead.
She added: “Emergency Management Days are a privilege, not a right, and anyone who is involved in an incident would give up the privilege to be automatically considered for any future Emergency Management Days.”
The Law Institute of Victoria is urging the Andrews government to release some inmates, deemed not to be a risk to the community, into home detention.
Lawyers told the Herald Sun civil action could be taken against Corrections Victoria if a serious coronavirus outbreak swept through a prison.
“They need to do what other states are doing and release anyone over 55 into home detention,’’ a source said.
‘’Some (guard) will bring it in (to the prison) by accident then the whole system will blow.’’
A range of contingency plans have been developed to manage prisons if the workforce is wiped out by the virus, a source said.
A state government spokesperson said there were “no plans for the early parole of prisoners” and would not comment about home detention.
To date there have been no confirmed cases of the virus among the state’s prisoner population.
However an employee at the Melbourne Justice Service Centre in the CBD has been struck down with the virus, with several others in self-quarantine.
New quarantine units have been established at Melbourne Assessment Prison, Metropolitan Remand Centre, Port Phillip Prison and Dame Phyllis Frost Centre and new arrivals must now isolate for 14 days.
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