But he was not among the nearly four dozen people Mayor Bill de Blasio released from Rikers Island this weekend. Jail officials said they expect the number of infected inmates to rise exponentially. That decision was made before the coronavirus outbreak, but it has reduced the number of people cycling through New York jails in the last three months. ADThe pleas for leniency heard in New York have echoed across the country as coronavirus has spread to jails and prisons. ADThree Georgia prisoners tested positive for the virus last week, intensifying calls in that state to release some inmates.

Source: Washington Post March 23, 2020 10:17 UTC