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NC Prisons Failed To Protect Inmates From COVID-19, Judge Orders Mass Testing

Cherokee County Detention Center in Murphy, NC.
Cherokee County Detention Center in Murphy, NC.
Cherokee County Detention Center in Murphy, NC.
Credit Colby Rabon / Carolina Public Press
Cherokee County Detention Center in Murphy, NC.

North Carolina has failed to protect inmates from COVID-19, according to a ruling from a Wake County Superior Court judge. The litigation against Gov. Roy Cooper and members of the North Carolina Department of Public Safety highlights evidence and affidavits that contradict DPS’ claimed safety measures. 

Host Frank Stasio talks with Reporter Jordan Wilkie about the recent ruling against North Carolina’s prison system.

Judge Vinston Rozier Jr.’s order remains unreleased, but could include guidance for mass testing and a long-term reduction in the state’s inmate population. Host Frank Stasio talks with reporter Jordan Wilkie about the lasting implications for North Carolina prisons. Wilkie is a Report for America Corps member working for Carolina Public Press. His coverage is part of the NC Watchdog Reporting Network in which WUNC participates.

Copyright 2020 North Carolina Public Radio

Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.
Grant Holub-Moorman is a producer for The State of Things, WUNC's daily, live talk show that features the issues, personalities and places of North Carolina.