{"id":2983,"date":"2020-05-15T20:00:39","date_gmt":"2020-05-15T20:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/live-journal-of-law-and-public-policy.pantheonsite.io\/?p=2983"},"modified":"2020-05-15T20:00:39","modified_gmt":"2020-05-15T20:00:39","slug":"covid-19-and-the-criminal-justice-system-how-prisons-and-prisoners-are-impacted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/publications.lawschool.cornell.edu\/jlpp\/2020\/05\/15\/covid-19-and-the-criminal-justice-system-how-prisons-and-prisoners-are-impacted\/","title":{"rendered":"COVID-19 and the Criminal Justice System: How Prisons and Prisoners are Impacted"},"content":{"rendered":" \n

(<\/span>Source<\/span><\/i><\/a>)<\/span><\/p>\n \n\n\u201cThe closest thing I can equate it with is…when you\u2019re locked in a cell in a giant, old, deteriorating jailhouse, is the fear that there will be a fire and no one will come in and unlock your cell. What caught my attention about this virus is that it really feels like there\u2019s a fire in this prison.\u201d An inmate at Washington State <\/span>describes<\/span><\/i><\/a> the inevitability of COVID-19 and the powerlessness he feels at remaining incarcerated as the virus rapidly spreads. When prisoners routinely lack access to <\/span>soap<\/span><\/i><\/a>, and when <\/span>hand sanitizer is considered contraband in prisons<\/span><\/i><\/a>, it is easy to imagine the rapid proliferation of the infection. Lack of access to sanitation is only part of the conditions that make prisoners particularly vulnerable to COVID-19. <\/span>Close quarters<\/span><\/i><\/a>, <\/span>frequently used communal spaces<\/span><\/i><\/a>, and <\/span>lack of adequate medical care<\/span><\/i><\/a> are just a few other factors that <\/span>make prisons and jails petri dishes for the spread of disease<\/span><\/i><\/a>. Indeed, these factors have caused a huge spike in the number of COVID-19 cases over the past months. As the number of cases rise in the general United States population, the number of cases in prison skyrockets. Though New York City has been hardest-hit so far, its rates of infection pale in comparison to that of <\/span>Rikers Island<\/span><\/i><\/a>, whose infection rate is <\/span>seven times higher<\/span><\/i><\/a> than the city\u2019s average. As the national number of cases <\/span>has grown over the past month<\/span><\/i>s,<\/span><\/a> prisons have begun to <\/span>take measures<\/span><\/i><\/a> to prevent the spread. These measures, ranging from<\/span> lockdowns<\/span><\/i><\/a> to<\/span> limited releases of prisoners <\/span><\/i><\/a>vary widely depending on the state and even vary based on the prison. <\/span>\n\nLong before the declaration of a global pandemic, concerns about the health of incarcerated populations have been prominent given that incarcerated populations <\/span>are extremely vulnerable to many public health concerns<\/span><\/i><\/a>. The same conditions that make COVID-19 such a huge threat, such as <\/span>overcrowding, unsanitary environments, and lack of access to adequate health care<\/span><\/i><\/a>, mean that prisons make contraction of infectious diseases more likely for incarcerated individuals and <\/span>can lead to death<\/span><\/i><\/a>. <\/span><\/i>Further, there are many elderly people who are incarcerated who have chronic health conditions that require heavy amounts of treatment and care, something that the prison industrial complex is not well-equipped to handle. Since<\/span> rates of infectious diseases generally hit prisons at high transmission rates<\/span><\/i><\/a>, it is not surprising that COVID-19 is <\/span>spreading so rapidly<\/span><\/i><\/a> in detention and carceral settings. Public health <\/span>has always been a concern<\/span><\/i><\/a> in detention centers and the COVID-19 crisis just reinforces the need for more attention. <\/span>\n\n \n\nResponses<\/strong><\/span>\n\nSince the enforcement of criminal law is typically left to the states, <\/span>the states have individually been tackling the problem of how to respond to COVID-19<\/span><\/i><\/a> in their detention centers. Alongside this, the Federal Bureau of Prisons has<\/span> its own protocol that applies across the federal prisons,<\/span><\/i><\/a> meaning that some federal detention centers might be located in states where the state prisons have different protocols and responses. While the reality of this is that many states are taking similar approaches, some states have been more proactive than others. Further, it should be noted that some of the states that have been more proactive are those that have been most dramatically hit statewide with COVID-19 cases and deaths. <\/span>\n\nThere are <\/span>a few types of interventions<\/span><\/i><\/a> across many jurisdictions<\/span><\/i><\/a>, albeit in different forms. <\/span>\n