Statewide Cumulative Cases among incarcerated people

1. Testing practices vary widely by correctional agency. True case counts are likely higher and may be significantly higher than reported.

2. Rates are calculated using a denominator of facility-level population as of February 2020. See our methodology to learn more about why we chose this approach.

Statewide Cumulative Cases among staff

1. Not all agencies report data on staff COVID-19 cases. Some jurisdictions leave it to staff members’ discretion whether to report positive test results they receive from community healthcare providers.

2. We do not have reliable data for staffing levels at all facilities. As a result, we are not currently providing rates for staff.

Facilities by Cumulative Cases

Legal Filings and Court Orders Related to COVID-19

Our project collaborates with Bronx Defenders, Columbia Law School’s Center for Institutional and Social Change, and Zealous to collect legal documents from around the country related to COVID-19 and incarceration. Together, we then organize and code them into the jointly managed Health is Justice litigation hub for public defenders, litigators, and other advocates. The majority of the legal documents in the Health is Justice litigation hub are federal court opinions, but we are expanding to state legal filings, declarations, and exhibits.

In addition to the Health is Justice litigation hub, our project also manages additional data self-reported by advocates regarding COVID-19-related legal filings involving incarcerated youth and individuals in immigration detention.

For more COVID-19-related legal filings, please visit the University of Michigan Law School’s Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse, COVID-19 Special Collection.

Prison and Jail Releases Related to COVID-19

We collect data on jurisdictions across the U.S. that have released people from adult prison and jail custody in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. For the most part, we only include release efforts where the data source includes some sort of programmatic description of who is being released (e.g., people with technical violations of parole, people charged with non-violent crimes, etc.). You can find our full prison releases dataset here and jail releases dataset here.

COVID-19 Cases and Deaths in Immigration Detention

We collect data on COVID-19 infections and deaths of detainees and staff within all 120 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities, as well as other facilities detaining people under ICE jurisdiction, across the United States. Our data come directly from ICE’s website and are updated almost every day. As of November 23, 2020, ICE no longer reports COVID-19-related cases and deaths among staff. You can find our full dataset here.

Grassroots and Community Organizing Efforts Related to COVID-19

Our team collects data on grassroots and community organizing efforts by incarcerated people, their families, community-based organizations, nonprofits, and advocates aimed at influencing government agencies to protect the lives of people incarcerated in prisons, jails, and detention centers against the threats posed by COVID-19. You can find our full dataset here.