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

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.