A recent study has brought to light the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 crisis on individuals in prison, revealing a staggering 77% increase in mortality rates within US prisons in 2020. This surge is over three times higher than the rise observed in the general population during the same period.
Published in Science Advances, the study is considered the most comprehensive analysis of in-custody deaths since 2020. It disclosed an alarming upswing in mortality rates within prisons compared to previous years, with COVID-19 identified as the primary driver for increases in mortality due to natural causes, while some states also witnessed substantial increases due to unnatural causes.
To comprehend the full scope of COVID-19’s impact within prisons, the study gathered data from 49 states and federal departments of corrections. Lead author Naomi Sugie, an associate professor of criminology, law, and society at the University of California at Irvine, emphasized that the true toll of COVID-19 had been poorly understood, stating that their PrisonPandemic project in California revealed dire conditions that arguably violated the health and human rights of incarcerated individuals.
The study exposed systemic failures beyond the direct impact of COVID-19, highlighting a complete reduction in facility transparency during lockdowns, with some facilities ceasing to record the cause of death that year. Despite the Death in Custody Reporting Act passed in 2000, there has been no publicly available information about mortality in US prisons since 2019, according to the authors.
In 2022, the Bureau of Justice Statistics reported approximately 2,500 prisoners died of COVID-related causes between March 2020 and February 2021. However, this figure excludes the increase in mortality rates from natural or unnatural deaths. Sugie noted that, similar to the general population, many states did not conduct systematic testing, potentially resulting in underreporting of COVID-related deaths in prisons.
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