The pandemic has stretched on for a tense year, and the state’s protocols have not stopped the spread inside correctional facilities. In the prisons alone, where over 9,600 people were held as of February data, there have been 7,883 cases and 48 deaths.
There have been no mass releases of incarcerated people since August. Those who remain live under frequent lockdowns and isolation, their loved ones shouldering costly fees to stay in touch. Access to programs that move incarcerated people toward parole has been limited. And the state prison system spent hundreds of thousands of coronavirus funds on unproven prevention equipment.
