Inmate tests positive for coronavirus at federal prison in Sheridan

Published 7:19 am Monday, July 6, 2020

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.

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 Saturday, 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 last week that the prisons bureau has failed to take proper precautions to stem the spread of the disease.

Hay said 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.

While his petition is pending, he’s also seeking a court order demanding that the warden of the federal prison in Sheridan: stop accepting new inmates until there can be some assurances that they aren’t infected with the disease; prohibit Stirling’s transfer from Sheridan to another prison; and require specific cleaning and social distancing protocols.

Inmates at Sheridan report that they’ve been held in cells for 23 hours a day, and sometimes for up to 72 hours straight, without release, due to the prison lockdown. Some have reported that their trash isn’t collected from cells during the lockdown, and inmates are allowed a shower only once every three days, Hay wrote.

“Two weeks after the lockdown went into effect, one inmate at the Sheridan FDC committed suicide. Inmates report that two other detainees engaged in acts of self-harm while locked in their cells, one reportedly slashing his neck,” the federal public defender wrote. “Other inmates report they are stressed and feel poor physically due to cramped conditions, lack of fresh air, lack of exercise, and poor food. Some inmates reportedly contemplated or started hunger strikes.”

Federal Bureau of Prisons officials say they have limited inmate transfers between the facilities it manages, placed its prisons on lockdown and restricted visits to help stem the spread of the disease.

Sue Allison, a spokeswoman for the prisons bureau, has said the bureau is providing “enhanced screening” of inmates placed in quarantine or isolation due to confirmed COVID-19 or high-risk exposure, with a psychologist required to see an inmate within 24 hours of their placement in such conditions.