Inmate tests positive for coronavirus at federal prison in Sheridan
Published 10:32 am Monday, July 6, 2020
SHERIDAN — An inmate from the federal prison in Sheridan has tested positive for the coronavirus, the first reported case at Oregon’s only federal prison, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
The positive result was noted on the Bureau’s website on Saturday, July 4.
Since mid-March, federal defense lawyers have urged the release of inmates from the prison, citing the danger of their potential exposure to COVID-19. Prosecutors have routinely responded that there hadn’t been a single case reported at Sheridan.
As of July 4, 93 federal inmates and one staff member have died as a result of the COVID-19 disease in Federal Bureau of Prisons’ facilities across the country. There are 1,888 federal inmates and 177 staff who have confirmed positive test results for COVID-19, according to the federal bureau.
Oregon Federal Public Defender Lisa Hay argued in legal briefs filed in court recently that the prisons bureau has failed to take proper precautions to stem the spread of the disease.
Hay says the Bureau is increasing the risk of infection for all inmates by failing to test current inmates for COVID-19, transferring inmates between facilities without testing for the disease, allowing guards to enter without being tested, and failing to provide sufficient cleaning materials.
“While a national emergency like the pandemic justifies emergency measures, the Bureau’s resort to a continuing lockdown, now more than 80 days running, and its inability to protect inmates from COVID-19 with or without the lockdown, results in custody that violates the laws and Constitution of the United States,‘’ Hay wrote in a court petition on behalf of John P. Stirling, a 66-year-old man sentenced in May for drug smuggling.
Stirling was sentenced to three years and four months after he was caught smuggling a load of liquid methamphetamine aboard a boat as he sailed near Newport last year.
Stirling now is seeking release from the prison in Sheridan, contending his custody is unlawful due to the alleged unconstitutional conditions of his confinement.
