31,000 Prisoners Sought Compassionate Release During COVID-19. The Bureau of Prisons Approved 36.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

https://www.themarshallproject.org/2021/06/11/31-000-prisoners-sought-compassionate-release-during-covid-19-the-bureau-of-prisons-approved-36

Tens of thousands of federal prisoners applied for compassionate release after the virus began sweeping through lockups. But new Bureau of Prisons data shows officials approved fewer of those applications during the pandemic than they did the year before. While the BOP director greenlit 55 such requests in 2019, a new director who took over in early 2020 approved only 36 requests in the 13 months since the pandemic took hold in March 2020. The downturn in approvals came even as the number of people seeking compassionate release skyrocketed from 1,735 in 2019 to nearly 31,000 after the virus hit, according to the new figures.

(snip)

Federal judges have stepped in to release thousands of people in the face of BOP inaction. And the bureau continues to face intense scrutiny and several lawsuits over its handling of COVID-19. Since the first reported case last spring, more than 49,000 federal prisoners have fallen ill and 256 have died, according to corrections data tracked by The Marshall Project.

People in federal prisons seeking release during the pandemic have two main ways to get out early. One is home confinement, which allows low-risk prisoners to finish their sentences at home or in a halfway house. They’re still considered in custody, and the decision to let them out is entirely up to the Bureau of Prisons. As COVID shutdowns began last March, Congress expanded the eligibility criteria and then-Attorney General Bill Barr ordered prison officials to let more people go. Since then, more than 23,700 people have been sent to home confinement — though several thousand of them may have to return to prison once the pandemic ends.

The other way to get out early is through compassionate release. If a warden endorses a prisoner’s request, the case goes to BOP’s central office, which usually rejects it. But if a warden denies a request or 30 days pass with no response, then the incarcerated person can ask a judge to reduce the sentence to time served. The new data showed 3,221 people have been let out on compassionate release since the start of the pandemic — but 99% of those releases were granted by judges over the bureau’s objections.

[janterry]

1. Statistically, the feds seemed to have done better than

expected.

I think the state prisons had a harder time (death rates were higher).

The BOP has 129,219 federal inmates in BOP-managed institutions and 13,836 in community-based facilities. The BOP staff complement is approximately 36,000. There are 97 federal inmates and 127 BOP staff who have confirmed positive test results for COVID-19 nationwide. Currently, 44,925 inmates and 6,851 staff have recovered. There have been 238 federal inmate deaths and 4 BOP staff member deaths attributed to COVID-19 disease. Of the inmate deaths, 5 occurred while on home confinement.

https://www.bop.gov/coronavirus/

[Hortensis]

2. Rather than putting large numbers of jobless and frequently dysfunctional

people on the streets to fend for themselves in pandemic times, I'd rather we had more success making most safer in prison, releasing some at high risk, typically older, who had some kind of social support system waiting.

Unfortunately, overcrowding combined with refusal of vaccines means achieving a safer environment is problematic. Fortunately, prisoners average younger. It was expected from the beginning that refusal to be vaccinated would make achieving herd immunity very unlikely for the forseeable future (discouraging prioritization of vaccinating prison populations), and that has been borne out.

According to a UCLA study, willingness to rbe vaccinated was lowest among blacks at 36.7% (so 63.3% NOT willing!). Only 38.5% of 18-29 said they were willing, very similar to the rate for black prisoners. Most willing at 43.7% were those held in jails instead of prisons.

Of course, vaccine access to 100% should have been prioritized since they can't do it for themselves. As it is, on average vaccination rates lag national rates. Pulled up no doubt by responsible states and dragged down by states with more punitive and harsh attitudes.

[janterry]

3. I've never worked in a federal prison, but in general they are very well funded and not

over crowded (I've never heard that - ).

OTOH, I have worked in state prisons. And they are - for sure - over crowded (I would venture to say almost always. Certainly all of the ones I worked at were at capacity - or over. And even at capacity looked REALLY over crowded)

[Hortensis]

5. And of course by far most prisoners are in overcrowded state prisons.

[TheRealNorth]

4. I feel the same way

We would only be putting them in a potentially worse position.

It might be helpful to see the age breakdowns - I could see releasing people 75+, although I am not sure an independent or assisted living facility would be safer than a prison when it comes to Covid.