Read on Twitter
New: Despite having locked down state prisons to outside visits, Florida is still sending unpaid prison workers out to do manual labor amid the pandemic. I spoke to one family who even saw their son working on the side of a highway in St Augustine: https://theappeal.org/covid-19-prison-labor-florida/
*Some* prison labor has been restricted amid the outbreak. But the Florida Department of Corrections ignored my requests for comment for more than a week and still has not responded to my requests for more info: https://theappeal.org/covid-19-prison-labor-florida/
In the meantime, incarcerated people in Florida are still getting sent out in vans to do outdoor road work and maintenance for the Florida Department of Transportation https://theappeal.org/covid-19-prison-labor-florida/
New: One day after my story on Florida still using unpaid, incarcerated workers during the pandemic, @MyFDOT now says it’s giving workers masks/gloves and ending “close-contact ride-sharing” https://theappeal.org/covid-19-prison-labor-florida/
Response from FDOT here, obviously the problem is still that incarcerated people are still being cycled in/out of what are supposed to be closed facilities. Also worth noting one mom told me her son was previously given no PPE at all
And @FL_Corrections has *still* not bothered to respond to my requests at all btw
