Judge orders outside expert to monitor N.C. prison system’s COVID-19 actions

BY NICK OCHSNER | UPDATED DECEMBER 04, 2020 3:31 PM

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - A judge ordered an outside expert, known as a special master, to oversee the North Carolina prison system’s response to COVID-19.

The order comes months after a lawsuit was filed by the ACLU on behalf of a coalition of advocacy groups, including the NAACP, challenging the way in which state prison leaders had responded to the pandemic.

A judge had previously entered an order requiring the prison system to take certain steps in response to the pandemic but had stopped short of requiring a special master.

Judge Vince Rozier, who has presided over the case, notified parties in the case of the hearing on Monday, days after WBTV uncovered the closure of three state prisons, which resulted in hundreds of inmates being bused to new facilities.

Read more at: https://www.wbtv.com/2020/12/04/judge-orders-outside-expert-monitor-nc-prison-systems-covid-actions/