Allegheny County officials are trying to reduce the jail population in response to the continued threat of COVID-19.

Staff at the jail and in the Public Defender’s office were working Tuesday to provide court administration with a list of inmates at high-risk for contracting the disease to be considered for release. Court staff then will determine if those individuals can be released by either having their bail reduced or detainers lifted.

The county would not provide numbers for the potential inmates affected nor the criteria for what would define them as high-risk, saying that both are changing on an ongoing basis.

As of Tuesday, there were 2,175 people being held at the county jail on Second Avenue. According to a December report from the Allegheny County Safety + Justice Challenge, 44% of the jail’s population was in for a probation violation — which could be a technical violation or a new arrest; 28% were being held pending trial and 10% were serving local sentences of less than two years.

The remaining inmates were being held for other counties or prison systems or based on family court violations like Protection From Abuse orders or child support orders.

As part of the effort to reduce the jail’s population, attorneys from the PD’s office, as well as private defense attorneys, also were working to file motions that would allow additional inmates to get out.

Mike Manko, a spokesman for District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr., said the district attorney’s office would not object to the release of non-violent offenders who are considered to be high-risk.

Other cases, Mr. Manko said, would be decided on a case-by-case basis.

“The safety of all Allegheny County residents has been the subject of ongoing discussion and obviously, the threat of this virus is a very serious health concern,” he said. ”In ongoing conversations with criminal court judges, our staff will be directed to do bail hearings, motions pleadings and other essential functions, and that will be expanded or reduced as needed.”

On Monday, Allegheny County court administrators declared a judicial emergency, significantly limiting court services for the next several days.

Witold Walczak, the legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, said that anyone being held at the jail on cash bail, a detainer or a minor offense ought to be released.

“Sitting back and saying we’re dealing with emergency motions is not enough in this moment of crisis,” he said. “We need the court to take affirmative steps to release as many people as possible.”

He also wondered how the jail is defining its “vulnerable” population.

“Unless you have Jack the Ripper in there, why wouldn’t you do it?” Mr. Walczak asked.

Bret Grote, of the Abolitionist Law Center, sent a letter on Monday to various county and city officials asking that they release all inmates but those who pose a serious public safety threat to protect against the spread of COVID-19.

“Emergency efforts to decarcerate the jail are more crucial now than ever,” he wrote.

In the letter sent Monday, Mr. Grote wrote that the preventative measures taken by the state to close schools and restaurants and non-essential businesses do not protect the jail population, which he called “one of the most vulnerable, highly concentrated populations.”

The prevalence of health conditions in the jail, like tuberculosis, asthma and others increase inmate vulnerability, he said.

“To make matters worse, the jail’s medical capacity isn’t nearly high enough to deal with a potential outbreak within the jail; it is woefully understaffed to deal with the medical needs of incarcerated individuals as is. Many individuals will likely need to be transported to and from the hospital, further increasing the likelihood of exposure and transmission,” he wrote.

Mr. Grote noted, too, the high turnover rate at the jail — with more than 100 people passing through intake daily.

“This high turnover also increases the likelihood that staff at the jail will contract and spread the disease. All of these factors converge to create the perfect storm for a potential COVID-19 outbreak to spread quickly amongst the incarcerated population,” he wrote.

“It’s more of a question of when, not if, it impacts the jail,” Mr. Grote said Tuesday. “The jail then just functions as an incubator of community spread.”

University of Pittsburgh law professor David A. Harris said the situation calls for a “not business-as-usual approach.”

“We know prisons and jails are dirty. They spread disease as a normal thing,” Mr. Harris said.

In addition to the difficult conditions there, he continued, because of the shift work required of staff, employees are going in and out constantly — potentially taking the virus in with them or taking it home to their families.

“Only the people who must be there should be there.”

Mr. Harris also suggested that law enforcement agencies should start filing more charges by summons and not processing new arrests through the jail unless absolutely necessary.

As for the competing issues of balancing constitutional rights — like the right to a speedy trial — with public safety, Mr. Harris thinks the courts will be more willing to overlook those things on appeal.

“It’s an overwhelming public health emergency,” he said.

Mr. Walczak said it’s important, though, to make sure that as trials and other court proceedings are delayed, people facing charges are not languishing in the jail.

In federal court, where judges have begun postponing numerous cases because of the virus, the delays have prompted some criminal defendants awaiting disposition to file motions for release from jails or for expedited hearings, by video if necessary.

Thomas Vaughn Kelly of New Kensington, for example, was supposed to be sentenced Thursday for dealing fentanyl but a judge on Monday pushed the hearing back until May because of the virus. Kelly and his public defender, Sarah Levin, on Tuesday asked for an expedited hearing by video or phone to proceed on Thursday as scheduled so he doesn't have to wait any longer to start his sentence.

"Mr. Kelly makes this request due to the need to limit the number of clients in pretrial detention and reduce their exposure to COVID-19," Ms. Levin wrote. "He also makes this request because, as discussed in his sentencing memoranda, Mr. Kelly has a remaining state sentence to serve on a parole violation, and he will not receive pre-sentence federal credit for time in custody under Pennsylvania law."

Sentencings are always held in person in federal court but Ms. Levin said this one can be handled remotely because both parties have agreed to a 60-month term.

In another case, convicted drug dealer Christian Stevens and his lawyer asked a judge to reconsider his detention as he awaits sentencing because of the virus. Stevens is being held in the Allegheny County Jail following his guilty plea in 2017 to a charge of conspiracy to distribute heroin.

In a motion filed Tuesday, his lawyer, Paul Adamson, said he anticipates that the jail will be closed to all visitors, including lawyers, and argued that his client's continued detention "exposes Mr. Stevens to risk of death or serious bodily injury." If the jail is locked down, Mr. Adamson said he won't have access to Stevens, whose criminal history is nonviolent, to prepare for the sentencing.

According to an Allegheny County news release Tuesday, “jail staff are adept at taking precautions to mitigate and eliminate the spread of illness or disease.

“The jail faces hurdles each year in dealing with influenza and other infectious illnesses between inmates and staff, and, through infection control procedures, the facility has been able to curb these conditions,” the release said.

In response to COVID-19, jail administration is going to increase availability of cleaning agents effective at disinfecting the virus, as well as regular cleaning. In addition, professional and social visits at the jail are being suspended, and new inmates are being screened at admission, the release said.

Because of the limit on outside contact, the jail will allow inmates two free phone calls each week, which could be increased, the release said

According to the organization Fair and Just Prosecution, top prosecutors in San Francisco; Dallas County, Texas; Arlington County, Va.; St. Louis; Philadelphia; Baltimore; and New York City have all signed on to a letter seeking the release of all individuals who are being detained solely because they can’t afford bail — unless they pose a serious safety risk.

“It is an idea that’s taking hold amongst leading law enforcement officials across the country,” Mr. Grote said. “The sooner they take action, the safer it’s going to be.”

Paula Reed Ward: pward@post-gazette.com, 412-263-2620 or on Twitter: @PaulaReedWard. Staff writer Torsten Ove contributed.

First Published: March 17, 2020, 10:39 p.m.