HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Hours after Disability Rights Montana asked the state Supreme Court to order the release of some prison and jail inmates to prevent the spread of the coronavirus because the state wasn't doing enough, the governor issued a directive listing steps that — for the most part — state agencies were already taking.

The ACLU of Montana filed the emergency petition Wednesday on behalf of the rights group and asked for a hearing or for the court to appoint a special master to oversee a reduction of the number of people in custody during the ongoing pandemic.

“With a virus this contagious and this lethal, the state has an obligation to act immediately,” Bernadette Franks-Ongoy, executive director of Disability Rights Montana, said in a statement. “Without swift action, the ripple effect of an outbreak in correctional facilities will endanger everyone, hitting people with disabilities especially hard. "

Inmates in overcrowded facilities are unable to exercise social distancing, which is one of the key ways to prevent the spread of the virus, the petition states.

Subjecting non-dangerous prisoners with disabilities to an outbreak of COVID-19 amounts to deliberate indifference to their health and safety, and cruel and unusual punishment, the petition states. It names state, county and city courts, the Department of Corrections and the Montana Board of Pardons and Parole as respondents.

Gov. Steve Bullock issued a directive Wednesday that suspended new transfers into Department of Corrections custody, called for screening anyone who arrives at a facility and restricts in-person visitation. If the department director does approve a transfer, the inmate must be quarantined for 14 days at the new facility.

Bullock also directed the Board of Pardons and Parole to consider early release for inmates who are 65 or older, have medical conditions that put them at higher risk, are pregnant or are nearing their release dates — if they are not a public safety risk. A board official had said last week they were evaluating inmates for release.

SK Rossi, advocacy and policy director for the ACLU of Montana, said Bullock's directive lacks a sense of urgency and “comes nowhere close” to the ACLU of Montana's recommendations that the Department of Corrections immediately compile lists of vulnerable inmates and provide them to the governor for "immediate clemency action."

The governor's office and the Department of Corrections both note that criminal justice reform laws have already led to the release of many low-risk offenders who could serve their sentences in their communities.

“The offenders currently in prison remain there because they are higher risk, serving sentences for sexual or violent offenses, or cannot have their often extensive needs met in communities," the Department of Corrections said. The agency noted many of the offenders don't have adequate access to housing, employment and other services they need.

"The effect of the litigation, if successful, could be a mass release of offenders into homelessness during a time in which our healthcare system and other social services are already strained due to COVID-19.”

Bullock's directive does increase funding for housing for released inmates and for remote supervision of people on parole. He said crime victims would still be notified of or be allowed to participate in release decisions.

On March 23, Chief Justice Mike McGrath asked city and county courts to consider releasing as many people from jail as possible to avoid the spread of the virus. The petition argues that only some counties are doing so. Attorneys for those in custody must petition the courts for release.

Disability Rights Montana is also asking that courts limit the number of new people they order into custody.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For others, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, the virus can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death.

Montana's health department reported 208 cases of COVID-19, 17 hospitalizations and five deaths as of Wednesday morning. Three of the deaths occurred in Toole County.

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This story has been changed to correct the name of the organization filing the petition to Disability Rights Montana and to correct that the petition was filed Wednesday