Author: CHRISTOPHER OSHER AND EVAN WYLOGE The Gazette

Gov. Jared Polis and Colorado’s executive director of corrections have inflicted “cruel and unusual punishment” on prisoners by failing to put in place policies to protect those who are medically vulnerable from dying of COVID-19, according to a class-action lawsuit filed Thursday by the ACLU of Colorado. Colorado corrections facilities see high rates of COVID…

COVID-19 has slammed into Colorado’s prison system, which already was struggling to keep corrections officers from quitting amid rising chaos, according to state data, interviews and legislative reports. As of Thursday, mass testing revealed that 241 prisoners and 11 staff members at Sterling Correctional Facility had COVID-19, making the prison located east of Denver in…