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Photo by Eddie Herena

In controlled environments — such as prisons, jails, and similar facilities — it would appear obvious to any critical thinker that people infected with COVID-19 should be quarantined and contained when viral infections are identified. That simply did not happen at the Graceville Correctional Facility, a private prison operated by the GEO Group, a multibillion dollar corrections and security firm. As a result, I have now tested positive for COVID-19.

Those of us who are infected have been forbidden from using the phone, email or shower for the past three days. It is possible that this very letter may not reach its destination.

Let’s not let this corporation get away with the wanton disregard for the very human lives they were entrusted and financially compensated for to provide care, custody and control.

Hopefully, someone will have the courage and skill to stand up and garner justice for those of us who have no representation — the inmates. Many of us have been over-sentenced (though none of us were sentenced to death) at the hands of indifferent, incompetent or intentionally criminal prison officials.

Disclaimer: The views in this article are those of the author. Prison Journalism Project has verified the writer’s identity and basic facts such as the names of institutions mentioned.

Robert Roosevelt Miller II is a writer incarcerated in Florida.