The Corona Commutation: Michael Cohen Demands Trump Immediate Release Prisoners… Like Michael Cohen

Authored by Jonathan Turley,

Michael Cohen, the former personal attorney and “fixer” for President Donald Trump, is calling on his former client to order the release of non-violent prisoners to avoid imposing a “death sentence” on him and others.

The petition is a “plea to the President of the United States to save lives” to avoid a threat of lethal exposure for inmates like Cohen. Of course, given the extreme animosity that exists between Trump and Cohen, that may not be the optimal spin for inducing presidential action.

Iran recently released thousands of prisoners to avoid the spread of the virus. The “chaos” reported in Iranian jails has not been reported in U.S. jails.

The petition calls for federal non-violent offenders to be allowed to go home to further protect themselves. It specifically states:

“The Federal Prison Camps are without adequate medical staff and are without proper medical equipment, sterilization techniques, gloves, sanitizers, masks, and other necessary items,” the petition says. It claims that placing non-violent offenders under home confinement “would give the prison facilities additional (and much needed) medical triage and logistic space for those who will become infected with the COVID-19 Virus, the spread of which is discussed as a mathematical certitude.”

Cohen is serving a three-year sentence and has been held at federal facility in Otisville, N.Y., since May 2019.

The “plea” to President Trump declares that “[w]ithout your intervention, scores of Non-Violent Offenders are at risk of death, and these people were not given a death sentence.”

The problem is that choosing between preserving Covid-19 and Cohen could be a touch choice for Trump. What is clear is that he would likely prefer to keep both contained.

Indeed, nothing saying “social distancing” like solitary confinement.