Emptier Jails Could Stay That Way

The Minnesota Freedom Fund has ramped up its spending to pay bail for people with low-level charges. The COVID-19 threat has added urgency to this increasingly popular response to the cash bail system. With jails and prisons posing a great threat to inmates during a pandemic, there have been increased calls to release non-violent inmates to slow the spread and protect those experiencing incarceration.

Pennsylvania prisons' relatively uncrowded conditions and approach to releasing people early when the pandemic hit have limited deaths in its prisons, making people incarcerated in Pennsylvania less than half as likely to die of COVID-19 as free Pennsylvanians. In neighboring Ohio, where COVID cases appeared simultaneously, the prison death rate has been nearly seven times higher than Pennsylvania's. Ohio's prisons are far more crowded, they rely much more on dorm-style housing, and their early-release rules were much more restrictive.

Nonprofit bail funds, which use donated money to pay the bail of low-income people held in jail on pending charges, have won the release of about 55 people in Detroit during the COVID-19 crisis. Beyond the immediate need to free more people from an environment that makes social distancing difficult, the bail funds are part of a larger movement challenging a system that disproportionately affects people of color. The combination of bail payments, bond reductions, and administrative releases have reduced Wayne County's jail population by almost half.

Since 2016, the Second Chance Pell program has been providing financial aid for those experiencing incarceration to pursue a college education. Started under the Obama administration, it has gained bipartisan support and traction in the Trump administration as well. Considering 90% of incarcerated individuals will be released, the Second Chance Pell program serves as a demonstrated commitment to reduce recidivism and mass incarceration.

In 2018, San Francisco county forgave $32 million worth of criminal justice administrative fees. These fees are issued to formerly incarcerated individuals upon release from prison, most of which are not employed and without stable housing. The coalition pursuing this policy change cited economic justice for those that have already paid their societal debt and an overall state savings in collection costs as the primary reasons to end this practice.

Providing those experiencing incarceration with educational services has shown to reduce recidivism by 28%. While many prisons offer GED or higher education classes, the opportunities are still hard to come by consistently, so organizations like Underground Scholars help recruit individuals after prison to colleges. Looking forward, those pushing for criminal justice reform hope to overturn a 1994 legislation that banned incarcerated individuals from being eligible for Pell Grants, which could help drive more people from prison to school.

In 2017, Illinois passed a bill to re-establish the Women’s Correctional Services Division in response to the disproportionate level of discipline handed out to female inmates and in an effort to create more trauma-informed practices. An initial audit showed declines in discipline and there is now mandatory training for correctional officers on working with female inmates. But the main reform champion retired after the law passed and the state wouldn’t provide updated data on discipline.

Rampant misconduct by judicial systems across the country brought to light a crippling practice of debtors' prisons—where disadvantaged individuals unable to pay fines and fees were continually and wrongfully imprisoned, creating a vicious cycle. The American Civil Liberties Union stepped in to work with governments and private companies to increase transparency, eliminate abuse, and reeducate law enforcement officials. The state of Ohio has emerged as a leader in reforming debtors' prisons, though there is still work to do.

After Colorado passed a state law requiring all jails to create in-person polling places for incarcerated voters, the number of ballots cast from county jails rose from 231 in 2022 to more than 2,300 in 2024.

In 2022, the Dauphin County Commissioners voted to eliminate “pay-to-stay” fees that meant people incarcerated in the county jail were often saddled with debt upon their release, regardless of the outcome of their trial. In September 2024, the commissioners also voted to forgive past debt accrued under the pay-to-stay policy, providing $66 million in relief for formerly incarcerated individuals, giving them a better chance at getting back on their feet post incarceration.