Giving Compass' Take:

• Emily Widra shows drastic variations in the reporting of testing, infections, and deaths surrounding COVID-19 in state prisons.

• How might these inconsistencies generate a lack of awareness towards those suffering from COVID-19 in state prisons? What can we do to shed light on the prevalence and dangers of COVID-19 in state prisons?

• Find out how you can fund solutions for those experiencing the effects of COVID-19 in state prisons.

Wide variation in the rates of reported infections and deaths in state prisons reflect the uneven spread of the virus and disparate responses by state criminal justice systems.

We’re frequently asked about the number of infections and deaths in prisons from the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. The UCLA COVID-19 Behind Bars Data Project is helpfully collecting all of the official reports of infections and deaths into one spreadsheet. But state prison systems are vastly different sizes, so it’s impossible to make direct comparisons using only the counts provided in the UCLA spreadsheet. So we’ve calculated the rates of infection and deaths in state prison systems, which allow us to compare the impact of the pandemic across all 50 states’ prison populations. Our findings suggest three possible – and troubling – conclusions:

  1. Some states may not be properly testing or may not be accurately reporting infections and deaths;
  2. People incarcerated in different states may face very different odds of infection and death from COVID-19, depending on how their state responds to the crisis; and/or
  3. Some states have been lucky in that the virus has been slow to reach their facilities. But, as we’ve seen with the uneven spread of the pandemic across states, this likely means the full force of the virus has yet to hit these facilities, so they need to redouble their efforts at population reduction and other preparations.

Comprehensive and frequent testing offers the prison system – and the public – a clearer view of the virus spread. If correctional facilities are only testing people with extreme symptoms, we gain very little information about what to expect and how to protect vulnerable lives.

Read the full article about COVID-19 in state prisons by Emily Widra at Prison Policy Initiative.