Judge orders Texas prison to provide soap, masks for inmates

HOUSTON (AP) - A federal judge in Houston has ordered Texas to provide inmates access to soap, hand sanitizer and masks at one prison following the death of an inmate who’d tested positive for the coronavirus. U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison issued a preliminary injunction Thursday night calling for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to provide the items at the Pack Unit, where 62-year-old Leonard Clerkly had been incarcerated. Clerkly died Saturday at a local hospital after testing positive for the virus. As of Thursday, 327 inmates in Texas prisons had tested positive for the virus.

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