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Judge bumps Oregon inmates ahead of seniors, rules vaccine delay equates to cruel & unusual punishment

February 7, 2021 | | Print Article

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For those confused about the meaning of “equity,” one Oregon judge has provided the answer.

Last Tuesday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Stacie F. Beckerman signed an order moving incarcerated state inmates — including but not limited to convicted child molesters, rapists and killers — ahead of the elderly in the state’s coronavirus vaccine queue.


In defending her finding that delaying vaccinations violated the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment, Beckerman issued a statement brimming with the exact sorts of words you’d expect someone focused on “equity” to spout.

“From the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was clear that our country’s prisons were uniquely vulnerable to the transmission and spread of the virus. Prisons have not been spared from this reality, as COVID-19’s toll continues to mount behind bars,” she said, as reported by local station KESQ.

“Our constitutional rights are not suspended during a crisis. On the contrary, during difficult times we must remain the most vigilant to protect the constitutional rights of the powerless. Even when faced with limited resources, the state must fulfill its duty of protecting those in its custody.”

Note how she described dangerous convicted criminals as “powerless.” Their victims might very well disagree with that classification.

According to KESQ, Beckerman’s order mandates that the roughly 11,000 inmates incarcerated in the state’s prisons receive a vaccine “immediately.”

Rooted in “equity,” Oregon’s original “phased distribution” plan called for vaccinating the elderly in the following sequence:

  • People 80 and older starting on Feb. 8th
  • People 75 and older starting on Feb. 15th
  • People 70 and older starting on Feb. 22nd
  • People 65 and older starting on March 1st

Since vaccinations for those 80 and older begin on Feb. 8th and Beckerman’s order was signed on Feb. 2nd, this means inmates were placed six days ahead of the state’s most elderly citizens.

Oregon Phases 1A and 1B Vaccination Distribution by V Saxena on Scribd

This is “equity” in a nutshell.

A Marxist theory, “equity” calls for redistributing resources based not on fairness, meritocracy and science, but rather based on privileges.

Since inmates are incarcerated, they automatically lack privilege, never mind the crimes that they themselves committed. And since seniors aren’t incarcerated, they have privilege, never mind that they’re law-abiding citizens.

The problem with “equity,” besides its unfair classifications, is that it also means denying science. The science says that the elderly are at the highest risk of dying from the coronavirus, meaning they should be vaccinated first. Yet they’re not being.

Only in Republican-led states such as Florida and Texas has so-called “equity” been scrapped in favor of science-based vaccine distributions.

“Last week, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida issued an executive order allocating vaccines to nursing-home residents and staff members, people 65 and older, medical workers, and anyone deemed ‘extremely vulnerable to COVID-19,'” Insider reported in late December.

“Texas did the same a few days prior, giving the green light for people 65 and older, along with those who have certain preexisting conditions, to start getting vaccinated.”

Meanwhile in the Democrat-run state of Oregon, the elderly are still waiting — and worse, they’re now watching convicted criminals partake in the vaccine shots that ought to have been allocated to them first.

In fairness to Oregon’s state officials, prioritizing inmates wasn’t their idea. A far-left group called the Oregon Justice Resource Center filed a lawsuit last month on behalf of seven inmates demanding they be given the vaccine.

The group was predictably thrilled by Beckerman’s ruling, as seen in the tweet below:

This isn’t to say that Oregon’s state officials are off the hook.

“The court’s decision is clear, and the state has decided not to appeal,” Oregon Gov. Kate Brown’s spokesperson said in an email to The Oregonian.

In other words, though Brown didn’t advocate for incarcerated criminals to be vaccinated before seniors, she’s not going to do anything to stop it from happening. But why would she? After all, she’s a staunch advocate of so-called “equity.”

Look:

Of course, her brand of “equity” has focused primarily on race. Still, the theory remains the same: Those with privilege must suffer for the benefit of those ostensibly without privilege, including convicted child molesters, rapists and killers.

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Vivek Saxena
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