While many of us have been stuck at home, quarantining with our families during the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of Americans have been kept in immensely populated jails and prisons. Conditions in correctional facilities allow illness to spread much more easily due to inability to social distance and “unsanitary living conditions” (Nowotny, et al 967). Rikers Island is one of the many examples of “community rates (being) exceeded” within an institution (Nowotny, et al 967). Unsafe conditions caused by mass incarceration within these facilities has resulted in many jails and prisons temporarily taking on long-argued criminal justice reforms to lessen the COVID-19 impact within their buildings. Unfortunately, the justice system still has a long way to go as it relates to COVID-19.
Inmates are particularly vulnerable in this pandemic, because many are already exposed to numerous diseases due to the high capacity of people in such a small space. Harsh sentencing regulations have caused about 11% of the prison population to be elderly, who are even more susceptible. This leads to an increase in the costs of health care within the correctional units (Nowotny, et al 967). As a society that has recently been advocating for a more fair justice system, there is a push to adopt a more fair sentencing system in which punishments (especially for lesser crimes) are not nearly as long as they are today. Overcrowding in prisons and jails can be lessened in this way, therefore slowing the spread of disease (Nowotny, et al 967). Elderly ex-convicts extremely rarely do anything to threaten public safety upon release, so releasing them as a concerted effort to reduce the prison population and lessen the spread of disease would be the most reasonable thing to do. It is important to note that elderly people in prisons likely do not have supportive or stable social networks outside prison, and therefore would require re-entry support.
While a majority of states have adopted “compassionate release” policies, very few incarcerated individuals ever actually receive this benefit, as state laws on the topic are often very vague or include strict eligibility requirements (Nowotny, et al). Compassionate release, as defined by criminal justice advocacy organization, FAMM, is “when terminal illness, advanced age, sickness, debilitation, or extreme family circumstances outweigh continue imprisonment”(“Compassionate Release.”). The Marshall Project has been collecting data on COVID-19 in state and federal prisons since March; see the link below to learn more about how correctional facilities in your area have been affected by the novel coronavirus. As of July 30, 2020, there have been at least 78,526 confirmed cases of coronavirus in prisons, resulting in at least 766 deaths (The Marshall Project).
Beyond inmates in prisons serving lengthy sentences, the great majority of those in jail are awaiting trial because they could not afford the bail which would allow them to await their trial outside of a correctional facility. The cash bail system results in more people being incarcerated (in many cases, innocent people), exacerbating overcrowding issues such as lack of adequate resources and the spread of disease. COVID-19, among diseases like tuberculosis and hepatitis C, runs rampant in a jail setting, putting people at risk who have yet to be convicted of anything. Legal professionals have long called for the cash bail system to be effectively ended, meaning that the default for those accused of crimes would be release on their own recognizance, except when “‘clear and convincing’” evidence demonstrates that they need to be detained before trial (Nowotny, et al 968). Essentially, an accused person’s financial status would be irrelevant, at least until they are convicted of a crime (except in egregious circumstances; for example, if it would be best for the accused’s safety to be separated from society, or if they posed an immediate and constant danger to society while released). This is especially necessary because the cash bail system disproportionately disadvantages people of color and low-income individuals, often placing higher bail amounts on Black and Latinx people than white people accused of similar crimes.
While COVID-19 is a potentially fatal virus to everyone, the people being housed in prisons and jails are particularly susceptible due to long sentences, old age, overcrowding, lack of supplies (such as soap), and potentially weak immune systems due to the spread of other diseases. As Nowotny et. al. so eloquently put it, “overcrowding leads to an increase in preventable deaths and a decrease in health care” (967). Reforms to harsh sentencing laws, compassionate release policies, and cash bail are long overdue, but with a dangerous pandemic underway, the release of elderly people, sick people, and people who have not yet been tried in a court of law should be the highest priority.
References:
“Compassionate Release.” FAMM, 13 Mar. 2020, famm.org/our-work/compassionate-release/.
Nowotny, Kathryn, et al. "COVID-19 Exposes Need for Progressive Criminal Justice Reform." American Journal of Public Health, vol. 110, no. 7, 2020, pp. 967-968. ProQuest, DOI:10.2105/AJPH.2020.305707
The Marshall Project. (2020, July 30). "A State-by-State Look at Coronavirus in Prisons". Retrieved July 31, 2020, from https://www.themarshallproject.org/2020/05/01/a-state-by-state-look-at-coronavirus-in-prisons
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