Public defenders in Sacramento say the danger from coronavirus in the county jails has reached a new level, with a county public defender believed to have tested positive for the disease after visiting a client last week.
“We learned today that a Sacramento County deputy public defender tested positive for COVID,” Federal Defenders Heather Williams and Ben Galloway wrote in a letter Tuesday to U.S. Attorney McGregor Scott. “That attorney did a jail visit last week and spoke with a client using the Jail’s social visiting area.
“This is not business as usual. All releasable federal detainees should be released to shelter-in-place. This should include all non-violent pretrial detainees with a release address, all non-violent probation and supervised release violators, and anyone post-plea and pre-sentencing for a non-violent offense.”