Rep. Madeleine Dean and Sen. Brian Schatz introduce the Emergency GRACE Act -- protecting incarcerated people from COVID-19

Press Release

Rep. Madeleine Dean (PA-04) and Senator Schatz (D-HI) introduced the Emergency Grants of Release and Compassion Effectively (Emergency GRACE) Act to protect incarcerated populations from COVID-19.

The Emergency Grants of Release and Compassion Effectively (Emergency GRACE) Act aims to make compassionate release accessible and efficient by allowing individuals to submit petitions directly to the courts, providing legal counsel, making Medicaid accessible after release, providing funding for and improving COVID-19 testing.

"As of June 11th, over 250 people have died due to the coronavirus in federal prisons," Rep. Dean said. "During this pandemic I've been committed to saving as many lives as possible and the Emergency GRACE Act would help save the lives of vulnerable people in prison."

This Bill has been endorsed by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), Due Process Institute, R Street, Law Enforcement Leaders to Reduce Crime & Incarceration, Dream Corps JUSTICE, FAMM, National CURE, NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, Justice Roundtable, and Community Oriented Correctional Health Services.

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