US Prison Deaths Increase by 77% Since 2020, Study Reveals

In a study of US jail fatalities during the height of the COVID-19 crisis in 2020, mortality rates increased by 77% compared to 2019, or more than three times the rise in the general population, in stark contrast to the general population's increase.

The research, conducted by a team of scholars from the University of California Irvine and Brigham and Women's Hospital, provides the most extensive and eye-opening analysis of in-custody deaths during the pandemic, underlining the devastating impact of COVID-19 on the prison population, as per The Guardian.

COVID-19 Sparks Alarming US Prison Deaths

Activists Demonstrate Against Conditions In New York Jails In Wake Of Recent Deaths

(Photo : Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 01: People gather for a press conference to address the latest death on Rikers Island at City Hall on June 01, 2023 in New York City. NYC Jails Action Coalition held a press conference to speak about the conditions at Rikers Island after the death of Joshua Valles, who died on Saturday and is the third person to die in custody this year. Officials in Rikers stated that Valles suffered a heart attack while in custody, an autopsy showed that Valles had suffered a fractured skull. Steve Martin, a court monitor, raised concerns about safety in NYC jails and the lack of transparency and cooperation from the Department of Corrections in a recently released report.

Associate Professor of criminology, law, and society at the University of California Irvine and study's lead author Naomi Sugie stated that the research was aimed at clarifying the actual extent of the pandemic's impact on American prisons.

The researchers embarked on this journey after launching the PrisonPandemic project in 2020, sparked by concerns over the severe conditions inmates were enduring in California prisons, which, in some cases, violated their basic health and human rights.

To conduct the study, the researchers delved into records spanning from 2013 to 2020, comparing annual prison death rates during this period. What they discovered was not only alarming but also deeply troubling. In 2020, mortality rates within the prison system increased by a staggering 77% compared to 2019, a rate more than three times higher than that of the general population.

Moreover, the study revealed that some prison facilities did not even record the causes of deaths during that year. Inconsistent record-keeping across states led to a significant underreporting of COVID-19 mortality numbers within the prison system.

For instance, while the Bureau of Justice Statistics reported approximately 2,500 prisoner deaths due to COVID-19-related causes between March 2020 and February 2021, this figure failed to capture the surge in natural and unnatural deaths, including suicides, accidents, homicides, trauma, and overdoses.

One disturbing aspect highlighted in the study was the increase in deaths with unknown causes in 2020. This was particularly alarming since some states, including California, Oregon, Missouri, Maryland, and New York, already had a history of reporting a high number of deaths with unknown causes before the pandemic, according to Courthouse News.

Prison System Failures Amid COVID-19

The authors argue that these steep increases point to systemic failures that not only heightened the risk of illness among inmates but also restricted their access to proper medical care. Staff shortages and limited medical resources within the prison system further compounded these problems.

Additionally, the authors noted that various pandemic-related measures, such as lockdowns, restricted movement, and solitary confinement instead of medical isolation, exacerbated prisoner anxiety, stress, and other mental health issues.

These measures inadvertently contributed to a rise in unnatural causes of death, including drug overdoses, suicides, and violence, further emphasizing the need for more comprehensive and humane strategies to deal with the pandemic within the prison system.

Also, the research emphasized the notable discrepancies among states with regard to mortality rates, wherein certain states exhibit rates that are two to three times greater than those of others.

Areas with higher COVID-19 positivity rates around prisons were found to have increased mortality rates within those facilities, suggesting that prison staff may have played a role in transmitting the virus despite visitor restrictions and lockdowns designed to prevent the virus from entering prisons from the surrounding communities, Express Healthcare reported.