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Interfaith Prayer Action – Updates from Sept. 1’s Event

On Thursday, Sept 1st Pennsylvania Interfaith Impact Network (PIIN) hosted an Interfaith Prayer Action prior to the September Allegheny County Jail Oversight Board Meeting. Members of PIIN, Abolitionist Law Center, Alliance for Police Accountability, Reach, and West End POWER joined together to honor the 16 victims who have died in the jail since March 2020. Faith leaders issued a moral call for change with a list of seven demands that were presented to the Jail Oversight Board during the meeting:

1. Incarcerated individuals receive immediate medical attention at their request at no cost and that the determination to provide care not be left to correctional staff.

2. Incarcerated individuals be given the ability to add, delete, or modify emergency contact information at their request during all stages of incarceration and custody – and that this request be processed within one day of the ask.

3. Allegheny County Jail must notify the emergency contact and the Jail Oversight Board (JOB) with complete details around the incarcerated individual’s medical emergency, hospitalization, or death within two hours of the event.

4. Family members or listed emergency contacts be allowed immediate access to a hospitalized incarcerated individual.

5. Transparency into the medical records of deceased incarcerated individuals.

6. Practical resources be made available for detainees and incarcerated individuals in the Allegheny County Jail.

7. A community meeting with the JOB to be held within 30 days if demands are not carried out.

We are grateful to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, WTAE, and other media for covering the event! Here are some highlights:

https://www.wtae.com/article/allegheny-county-jail-oversight-meeting-audit-medical-demands/41059826

https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2022/09/01/allegheny-county-jail-oversight-board-survey-deaths-pittsburgh-interfaith-impact-network-warden-orlando-harper/stories/202209010164