Reducing Jail and Prison Populations During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Prisons, jails, and other correctional authorities must make every effort to release unnecessarily incarcerated people and improve healthcare and conditions of confinement. Prisons and jails frequently suffer from overcrowding. Even in the best of times they are, by definition, facilities where people are placed in close contact with each other on a near-constant basis. Factor in the unique health challenges faced by incarcerated people and the limited availability of quality healthcare, and it’s no surprise that correctional facilities are uniquely vulnerable to diseases such as Covid-19.