Christopher Peak file photo
Rabbi Daniel Greer.
On a day when Jews worldwide fast to mourn historic tragedies, Rabbi Daniel Greer headed back to prison 97 days after a state judge first ordered him released due to the dangers of being elderly, infirm, and behind bars during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Greer, an 80-year-old prominent New Haven rabbi, showed up to the state Superior Court building at 235 Church St. Thursday morning to return himself to the Department of Correction’s (DOC) custody.
He will now be heading back to the Cheshire Correctional Institution to continue serving a 20-year prison sentence (suspended after 12) for repeatedly sexually assaulting a teenage student at his Norton Street yeshiva. Greer is appealing the case.
Greer turned himself back in Thursday following a Tuesday decision from Superior Court Judge Jon Alander.
Thursday just happened to be the Jewish fast day Tisha B’Av, which marks the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem as well as a host of other historic calamities afflicting the Jewish community. Many consider it the saddest day on the religious calendar.
In his latest order, Alander denied Greer’s July 17 request for a 90-day extension to the temporary release that Alander had initially granted the rabbi back on April 24.
The judge’s rationale: state prisons are safer to be in now than they were in April, even if Greer is no healthier now than he was this spring.
The judge had allowed Greer to return home from Cheshire for 45 days back in April after finding that the rabbi was uniquely vulnerable to suffering significant adverse consequences if he were to contract Covid-19 behind bars. Greer claimed at that time that he has chronic asthma and at 79 years old was at risk of serious consequences from the coronavirus.
Alander extended the temporary release by another 45 days on June 4, and then pushed Greer’s final return-to-custody date out yet again from July 23 to July 30.
In his July 28 order, which can be read in full here, Alander wrote that he feels comfortable sending Greer back to prison in large part because of the work that the DOC has done over the past three months to mitigate the spread of Covid-19 in prisons, and because of how relatively slowly the spread of the virus has been as of late in Connecticut as a whole.
Alander wrote that, in April, Connecticut was experiencing over 1,000 new cases of Covid-19 a day. Now, that average daily increase has dropped to less than 100.
He also wrote that, per the DOC’s data, “The number of incarcerated individuals known to be ill with the virus has also decreased substantially with only 2 inmates currently known to have the virus.”
The judge pointed to a settlement between the DOC and the ACLU in which the state committed to establishing a five-person panel to monitor the provision of sanitation, hygiene supplies, personal protective equipment, testing, quarantining, medical monitoring and treatment for inmates with Covid-19.
He wrote that the DOC will test each person in each facility for the virus, unless if that person has tested positive in the past two weeks or if that person does not consent to being tested. And the DOC will quarantine people newly admitted to custody for 14 days.
Alander also wrote that DOC will provide increased medical monitoring of people who test positive.
“While the defendant’s increased risk regarding COVID-19 due to his advanced age and medical condition has not changed, DOC’s ability to provide reasonable protections against that risk has been substantially strengthened.”
“Grave Danger”
Greer’s attorney, David Grudberg (pictured), responded to Alander’s order with a July 29 emergency motion to stay the imminent end to Greer’s temporary release.
In that appeal, Grudberg wrote that, with the exception of medical appointments and required travel for mandatory sex offender registration purposes, Greer has left his home only once since April 24 — and that was to attend religious services on May 9.
“Defendant’s medical condition has also worsened since the trial court’s initial April 24 order,” Grudberg wrote. He referenced a letter from Greer’s primary care doctor noting two medical issues he said required treatment by a cardiologist and a pulmonologist.
And he referenced a letter from Greer’s urologist, who expressed concern about blood in Greer’s urine and the possibility of the defendant having bladder cancer.
Alander denied the request and kept the July 30 date for Greer’s return to custody.
“We were very disappointed in the court’s decision,” Grudberg told the Independent Thursday by phone.
“We plan to appeal to the Appelate Court. We believe Covid remains a substantial threat both throughout the state and especially in the prison system, and that an 80-year-old inmate with risk factors identified by the CDC is in grave danger in the prison system regardless of any proactive measures the DOC has attempted to implement.”
In New Haven and statewide, groups like the Connecticut Bail Fund and the New Haven Harm Reduction Working Group have called for the DOC to cut the state’s prison population in half at least because of the difficulties of maintaining social distancing and hygiene while detained behind bars. The state DOC has said they’ve released over 2,500 people since the start of the pandemic, and that they have implemented a strict infection control plan for those still locked up.
Previous coverage of this case:
• Suit: Rabbi Molested, Raped Students
• Greer’s Housing Corporations Added To Sex Abuse Lawsuit
• 2nd Ex-Student Accuses Rabbi Of Sex Assault
• 2nd Rabbi Accuser Details Alleged Abuse
• Rabbi Sexual Abuse Jury Picked
• On Stand, Greer Invokes 5th On Sex Abuse
• Rabbi Seeks To Bar Blogger from Court
• Trial Mines How Victims Process Trauma
• Wife, Secretary Come To Rabbi Greer’s Defense
• Jury Awards $20M In Rabbi Sex Case
• State Investigates Greer Yeshiva’s Licensing
• Rabbi Greer Seeks New Trial
• Affidavit: Scar Gave Rabbi Greer Away
• Rabbi Greer Pleads Not Guilty
• $21M Verdict Upheld; Where’s The $?
• Sex Abuse Victim’s Video Tests Law
• Decline at Greer’s Edgewood “Village”?
• Rabbi’s Wife Sued For Stashing Cash
• Why Greer Remains Free, & Victim Unpaid
• Showdown Begins Over Greer Properties
• Judge: Good Chance Greer’s Wife Hid $240K
• Sex Abuse Too Much For Many Jurors
• Potential Greer Juror Grilled On “Truth”
• Greer Jury Finalized
• Greer’s Accuser Recounts Sexual Abuse
• Attorney Grills Greer Accuser
• Religion’s Role Raised In Greer Trial
• Another Greer Accuser Testifies
• Trial Question: Can Sex Crimes Victims Love Their Abusers?
• State Screws Up: 4 Greer Counts Dismissed
• Jury Finds Rabbi Greer Guilty
• “Noodles” Sideshow Stalls Sentencing
• Rabbi Greer Headed To Prison
• Rabbi Greer Released From Prison
• Sex Abuse Victim Blasts Rabbi’s Release
Sex offenders and violent offenders should not be released from incarceration due to the pandemic. Sex offenders can reoffend well into advanced age and are usually serial offenders. Society needs to be protected from sex offenders and violent offenders. The way to prevent virus spread in jails and prisons is to provide the necessary PPE and disinfectant and cleaning supplies, and let out non-violent, low level offenders, people awaiting trial who couldn't afford bail, and others who are unlikely to reoffend. They can be on ankle bracelet monitors and have daily or weekly check ins with the appropriate officials, and they should be released only if appropriate living situations can be arranged for them and they have some support system in place. you can't just turn them out onto the street with nowhere to live and no means of getting food or shelter.