Stating that “the COVID-19 outbreak at San Quentin [Prison] has been the worst epidemiological disaster in California correctional history,” the First District, Division Two, Court of Appeal’s October opinion in In re Von Staich found the prison warden and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation “have acted with deliberate indifference” to protecting prisoners from the pandemic. The court ordered the expedited removal from the prison — “by means of release on parole or transfer to another correctional facility” — of about half the inmates.
Today, the Supreme Court put the brakes on the appellate court’s order, at least temporarily. The court granted the Attorney General’s petition for review and, noting that the Court of Appeal had ruled based only on documents and oral argument and that “there are significant disputes about the efficacy of the measures officials have already taken . . . , as well as the appropriate health and safety measures they should take in light of present conditions,” sent the case back to the Court of Appeal “with instructions to consider whether to order an evidentiary hearing.”
The court added, “As we have repeatedly advised in other cases raising similar issues, the matter should be resolved as expeditiously as is consistent with sound adjudication, given the exigent and evolving circumstances concerning COVID-19.”
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