LOCKED UP // LOCKED DOWN – FESCH.TV

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LOCKED UP / LOCKED DOWN

Locked Up / Locked Down is the disturbing story of one man’s experience with COVID behind bars. Shaun Campbell was exposed to COVID at State Correctional Institution – Phoenix, a maximum security state prison in Collegeville, PA. As the pandemic worsened, prison guards failed to adopt basic preventive health measures. During Shaun’s bout with the virus, he was denied timely and adequate treatment, held in solitary confinement for about four months, and denied access to mental health services. His elderly cellmate died, and a window in the cell block filled with posted photos of many residents who passed away. When Campbell used the video visitation system to speak out about the PA Department of Corrections’ failure to protect residents’ health, he was sanctioned and denied visitation.

Sadly, Shaun’s experience is not out of the ordinary. As documented by the Marshall Project, the COVID Prison Project and the UCLA Covid Behind Bars Data Project, the handling of the pandemic by federal, state and local prisons was nothing short of criminally negligent. Official records show that approximately half a million people were infected with COVID-19 in prison — and more than 2500 died — over the first 15 months of the pandemic, but health experts almost unanimously view this as a significant undercount since many who were sickened were never tested. Those who became ill often received substandard care. While most prison systems could have lessened the impact of the pandemic by releasing low-risk or elderly residents, temporarily or permanently, they did so in a very limited fashion or not at all.

Unfortunately, most prison systems seemed to have learned little or nothing from their experiences with COVID to date. As new variants of the virus increasingly circulate, many prisons are “back to normal,” data on the extent of the pandemic is no longer being routinely collected, and there is little or no preparation for the next wave or the next pandemic that may be in the offing. Now is the time when the public should demand accountability and change to help prevent a future tragedy.

The project also includes original writing by Shaun about his mistreatment and the despair he experienced before he was released after serving an 11-year sentence on May 9th. These writings and other materials about Shaun’s story can be viewed at