How COVID-19’s Disruption of the U.S. Correctional System Provides an Opportunity for Decarceration

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified decades of vulnerabilities, disparities, and injustices within the U.S. correctional system. The spread of the coronavirus poses a particularly serious threat to those that comprise the system, including personnel, attorneys, prisoners, their families and extends into the communities in which facilities are located. These correctional facilities and communities were especially underprepared for the sudden onset of a highly contagious virus, which has resulted in an exceedingly high number of infections among those who work and are held in the facilities. Rampant overcrowding in the U.S. correctional system, an aging population, and a population exhibiting high rates of underlying health conditions are highly likely to exacerbate the spread of this highly contagious virus. This potentially dire set of interrelated circumstances necessitates rapid decarceration measures that effectively balance public safety and public health. Unfortunately, there has been unclear guidance as well as changing and even contradictory information coming from the federal government concerning rapid measures to mitigate the spread of infection to justice system personnel and federal prisoners. In this paper we summarize the federal response and how it has impacted those responsible for implementation. Furthermore, we discuss how systemic deleterious conditions of the U.S. correctional system serve as both accelerants to as well as effects of the pandemic. We end highlighting critical issues relating to early release due to COVID-19 that will necessitate future research.

Institutional Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic in American Prisons

“…Lastly, we encourage expansions in reentry and decarceration research. The pressing need to quickly reduce prison and jail population sizes across the country forced certain jurisdictions to release these persons early (see also Abraham et al, 2020). While we were unable to address these efforts in our study, moving forward this information can be highly beneficial to the study of reentry and risk assessment, as well as for sentencing reform (specifically sentencing reduction).…”

The Brazilian Penitentiary System under the Threat of COVID-19

“…Family members are not the sole outside visitors. Prison guards, managers, post officers, and food providers move in and out regularly increasing the risk of introducing coronavirus inside prisons and jails (Abraham et al, 2020). New inmates might also be a source of coronavirus.…”

“…The justification for the total suspension of external visits was to avoid the comings and goings of people from outside the prison environment (Matos, 2020). This measure has been proven to be futile, as family members are not the only contact prisoners have with the outside world (Abraham et al, 2020). Moving back and forth daily are the prison employees, members of religious organizations and lawyers, as well as outsourced service providers, present in 72% of Brazilian prisons (DEPEN, 2019).…”

British Columbia Provincial Corrections’ Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study of Correctional Policy and Practice

“…This support requires coordination across health, not-for-profit, and justice providers (Simpson & Butler, 2020) and includes providing individuals returning to their communities with knowledge of the most current COVID-19-related information about transmission and prevention measures, suitable housing arrangements, transportation to their residence, continuity of care (e.g, for opioid agonist treatment), and masks to protect their community. These efforts will likely prove challenging due to increased unemployment rates and additional barriers (e.g., fewer resources) to the delivery of services that support prisoner reentry (Abraham et al, 2020).…”

“…Examining whether judges can reduce their use of remand and increase their use of bail without sacrificing public safety is an important avenue of future research. Research should also investigate how COVID-19 release strategies and reentry programming -where they exist -compare to pre-COVID release and reentry programming to determine if traditional strategies could be enhanced (Abraham et al, 2020).…”