COVID 19 and Incarcerated Individuals

Bernard Harcourt, Isidor and Seville Sulzbacher Professor of Law and Professor of Political Science​, Department of Political Science

As the COVID-19 pandemic spreads in the U.S., prisons and jails in the U.S. are among the hardest hit with conditions worsening as the result of containment efforts, individuals suffering without healthcare, and infections spreading fast than in other communities. Prosecutors, governors, and lawmakers have the capacity to release particularly vulnerable individuals and keep populations in jails low to mitigate the impact and stop the spread.
Communities and attorneys across the country are championing a variety of projects to keep people out of prisons and jails, free those already inside who are at grave risk, and try to secure treatment to those suffering inside.