Policy Failures in Corrections, Attaching Strings to Federal Aid, What to Watch Now

As parts of the country start opening back up and (some) people venture out of quarantine, it might be easy to forget that the coronavirus is still ravaging parts of this country, specifically prisons and jails. It’s astounding the volume of stories coming out each day about incarcerated people who are fearing for their lives, writing goodbyes to loved ones, and contradicting officials’ claims about the health and safety of their confinement. Two tragedies stand out:

• Andrea Circle Bear was in her third trimester of pregnancy when she was sent to a crowded federal women’s prison in Fort Worth on a two-year sentence related to a minor, nonviolent drug charge. Inmates and staff there had already warned that coronavirus was spreading, and the 30-year-old soon tested positive. She gave birth while on a ventilator, and just weeks later, Andrea died of COVID-19. Holly Harris of Justice Action Network wrote a powerful New York Times op-ed that holds the Justice Department to account, saying it could have saved Andrea’s life but "instead sent her to the deadliest place on earth right now: an American prison." (In 2015, Andrea’s sister, Sarah Lee Circle Bear, died in custody while pregnant.)
   

• And there is Susan Farrell, the first woman to die from the coronavirus in a Michigan prison. The 74-year-old had served more than 30 years in the death of her husband, who she said physically and sexually abused her, resulting in various health issues. There have been more deaths in Michigan prisons since.

The bottom line: Andrea Circle Bear and Susan Farrell are the direct result of policy failures by the leaders we charge with protecting health and safety, and they are only the tip of the iceberg — corrections facilities are exploding with cases. They are why we have argued for compassionately releasing as many people as possible.

Call to action: Policymakers can’t ignore jails and prisons in their COVID-19 response, write my colleague Kelli Rhee, President and CEO, and Marc Levin of Right on Crime. The health of those behind bars — inmates and staff — is “intertwined with the health of our communities.”

Who's taking action: The Prison Policy Institute is tracking which state and local governments are taking meaningful steps to reduce incarcerated populations, and the Fines and Fees Justice Center has compiled a state-by-state, real-time look at what reforms are happening right now to keep people out of prisons and jails and relieve some burdens for those who are there.

By Evan Mintz, Criminal Justice Communications Manager

Juvenile justice reform is gaining new attention as COVID-19 forces the nation to assess the conditions within criminal justice and corrections systems. Children held in detention are isolated from their families, at risk of contracting the coronavirus, and forced to live in lockdown conditions that border on solitary isolation. That’s why the Columbia Justice Lab, an Arnold Ventures grantee, called for juvenile systems to release children from detention at the beginning of the crisis. 

• Pew drew attention to the role juvenile facilities play in spreading the virus and encouraged elected and appointed leaders to reduce the number of young people behind bars. Program administrators in some states, such as Michigan and California, are already working to transition young people from detention facilities to residential placement within their communities. 

• The Philadelphia Inquirer editorial board called for vast reforms within Pennsylvania’s juvenile justice system, including expanded testing, transparent data, and a plan to release youths currently in the system. The editorial critically points out that juvenile justice is specifically designed not to be punitive. However, the social distancing necessary to prevent the spread of COVID-19 makes the actual goals of supervision, treatment, and rehabilitation nearly impossible within juvenile facilities. 

• Local governments continue to collect court debt, jeopardizing families’ already precarious financial stability during the economic downturn. Last month, Arnold Ventures signed onto a call for a national moratorium on juvenile fines and fees during the duration of the health and economic crisis. 

• Meanwhile, the Associated Press reported that coronavirus lockdown measures at juvenile facilities across the country are leading to riots, escape attempts, and an atmosphere of fear for children and their families. 

While children rights’ groups and criminal justice experts are calling for large-scale releases, massive action is difficult because often individuals have control over juvenile cases. Governors or county executives don’t have the power to let children go. Any release likely has to happen on a case-by-case basis. 

Related: We were thrilled to see a victory for #debtfreejustice yesterday. A Maryland bill to eliminate fees and fines for youth in the justice system will become law. Bonus: It’s retroactive so will eliminate previous debt.

Lawmakers will be returning to Washington to consider the next round of federal aid for the COVID pandemic, and it’s important they consider lessons learned from the last recession when distributing funds:

• Higher education has seen immediate fallout from the pandemic, and the CARES Act gave colleges and students much-needed support to deal with it, including $15 billion in funding to institutions and the suspension of most student loans. Any new funding should come with guardrails to ensure accountability and “mitigate the potential harms we see coming,” writes my colleague Kelly McManus, Director of Higher Education. She cites three ways it can do that.
   

• In the case of aid to state budgets, the foremost question is whether the federal government should provide any at all. My colleague Patrick Murphy, Vice President of Public Finance, says that answer is yes. State and local governments represent more than 10 percent of the U.S. GDP. “From that perspective, it becomes difficult to understand why the job held by the person who processes unemployment claims in a state agency is more or less valuable than the airline ticket agent.” As far as strings attached? He looks to the fiscal stimulus passed during the Great Recession as a starting point.

Nursing homes have become an epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak, as illustrated by the devastating news last month that 70 people were found dead of coronavirus in a New Jersey nursing home. There are many reasons for this outcome, but such facilities have been incentivized historically to provide bare minimum services for complex care patients, write my colleagues Arielle Mir, Vice President of Health Care, and Amy Abdnor, Health Care Manager.

What can be done: They argue that integrating Medicare and Medicaid services for the dual-eligible population “is one of the best ways to eliminate perverse incentive structures that cost the system more money and lead to worse outcomes for people.” And while integrating two behemoth systems sounds difficult, there is precedent for the concept.

Lastly, some links to take your mind off the world right now:

• This adorable 2-year-old cook who is winning fans on social media. Meet Chef Kobe. His mother’s patience must be infinite.
• Any zoo that is giving animal lovers a live-stream right now. Watch giant pandas at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, soothing videos of jellyfish from a California aquarium, and even sloths. (My love of sloths can be exceeded only by my son’s, whose most prized possession is a picture of him and a sloth friend, and by Kristen Bell. Her sloth meltdown is legendary.) If you’re more of a dog person, tune into an elderly canine sanctuary in Tennessee.
• This year's Pulitzer Prize winners will give you plenty of new reading material if you missed their work the first time around.
• If you can’t get out of the house, you can still see spring unfold with virtual walks through the New York Botanical Garden.
• You might also feel less isolated after watching a day in the life of a lighthouse keeper, via National Geographic.
• The start of baseball season is upon us, at least in Korea and Taiwan.

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