The risk of coronavirus (COVID-19) spreading in prisons is especially acute. This has resulted in an unprecedented number of prisoners being released across the world-including many prisoners in the United States. From the health, social, and political perspectives, this is a sound approach. This is especially the situation in relation to older prisoners and those who have not been imprisoned for serious sexual and violent offenses. Despite the large number of prisoners that are being released, the United States will still have the largest prison population on earth-and by a large margin. However, the coronavirus pandemic and the response to it has considerably wider implications for the broader criminal justice system. In particular, it brings into focus a large number of other unintended adverse consequences experienced by prisoners. These include being deprived of the right to procreate; materially increasing the risk that they will be assaulted or raped in prison; and suffering a considerable reduction in their lifetime earnings. The familial relationships of most prisoners are also normally materially

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