ニューヨーク・タイムズさんのインスタグラム写真 - (ニューヨーク・タイムズInstagram)「Prisoners have helped California fight fires for decades, playing a crucial role in containing the blazes striking the state with more frequency and ferocity in recent years. ⁣ ⁣ This past week, though, hundreds of inmate firefighters were absent from the fire lines. They had already gone home, part of an early release program initiated by Gov. Gavin Newsom to protect them from the coronavirus. The absence has highlighted the state’s dependence on prisoners in its firefighting force and complicated its battle against almost 600 fires, many of which continue to burn across Northern California.⁣ ⁣ To critics, the prison program is a cheap and exploitative salve, one that should be replaced with proper public investment in firefighting. To others, it is an essential part of the state’s response to what has become an annual wildfire crisis. Some critics have complained that participants were released just when the state needed them most.⁣ ⁣ “The inmates should have been put on the fire lines, fighting fires,” said Mike Hampton, a former corrections officer who worked for decades at an inmate fire camp. “How do you justify releasing all these inmates in prime fire season with all these fires going on?”⁣ ⁣ @cagovernor’s answer is that prisoners faced a threat from Covid-19. Across the U.S. 112,436 inmates and correctional officers have been infected and 825 have been killed by the virus, according to a New York Times database. And in 4 of the 6 prisons that train incarcerated firefighters, there have been more than 200 infections each among inmates and staff. ⁣ ⁣ Tap the link in our bio to read more about how the coronavirus is limiting California’s efforts to fight fires with prison labor. Photos by @maxwhittaker of the Delta Conservation Crew in Healdsburg, California, in mid-August.」8月27日 10時43分