Court says inmates who have contracted Covid-19 can't automatically be denied coronavirus-related 'compassionate release' any longer; points to breakthrough infection

The Supreme Judicial Court today pointed to breakthrough delta-variant cases and ruled that judges can no longer automatically discount past infection or vaccination in deciding whether inmates and people awaiting trial are eligible for a potential release for Covid-19-related health reasons.

We do not wish to discourage inmates or detainees from consenting to vaccination. We also seek to reduce the inmate population where appropriate during the pandemic. We do not yet know whether a previous COVID-19 infection would provide the defendant with complete immunity or for how long. Although vaccinations have proved to be highly effective at protecting vaccinated people against symptomatic and severe COVID-19, breakthrough infections can occur and have occurred. We conclude, therefore, that whether a defendant previously has been infected or has been vaccinated should not be counted against the defendant when assessing the defendant's motion for a stay.

The ruling comes in the case of William McDermott, now 56, who asked to be released as he pursues a new trial forthe 1981 murder of his boss at the Cohasset Golf Club - whose partially buried body was found shot 11 times near the 18th hole. At the time, he was 17.

Although the Supreme Judicial Court eventually reduced his sentence from first-degree murder to second due to his age, that still carries a lifetime sentence, but with the possibility of parole, which McDermott has been denied several times, most recently in 2019.

The court agreed with a Superior Court judge and a single Massachusetts Appeals Court judge not to release him now, saying he posed too much of a flight risk - but said he could reapply should he be granted a new trial, his motion for which is still pending in Norfolk Superior Court.

McDermott had asked to be released because despite a positive Covid-19 test and vaccination, he remains at high risk from the virus in a heavily crowded prison setting at the Gardner state prison, both because of his age and because of his medical conditions, which include obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol and ulcerative colitis.

Also, Covid-19 has made it difficult for him to try to maintain or improve his health for other reasons, his lawyer argued:

The intermittent lockdowns, which may be reimposed as Massachusetts coronavirus cases continue to rise, make it difficult for McDermott to properly manage his weight and diabetes since he cannot adequately exercise or obtain a healthy diet.

And the prison ventilation system doesn't work, the attorney added.

A Superior Court judge rejected his request, in part because he tested positive for Covid-19 on Jan. 5.