Florida’s prison population lowest in 15 years
Drop likely to be temporary due to intakes being slow during the pandemic
Florida’s prison population has dropped to a 15-year low in recent months, a dip likely only to be temporary and attributed to coronavirus restrictions that have halted or delayed the processing of criminal cases and the intake of new prisoners.
As of last month, the Florida Department of Corrections recorded a population of84,601 incarcerated people across its vast network of prisons, an almost 12% decrease from the prison population in 2019. The number of inmates has not been this low since 2005, the last year the prison system reported holding fewer than 88,000 people in custody.
Over the last four years, the total prison population has hovered between 95,000 to 100,000. FDC is the third-largest state corrections system in the nation and Florida’s costliest state agency.
FDC spokeswoman Michelle Glady said the decline is the direct result of a large drop in new intakes into the corrections agency’s custody since mid-March, when COVID-19 restrictions started affecting the criminal justice system in a variety ofways.
Among them: FDC halted transfers from local jails when COVID-19 first hit Florida, courts across the state halted trials and many hearings were delayed due to the pandemic and courthouse restrictions.
Florida did not opt to release prisoners from their sentences early, something many other states did to minimize the spread of COVID-19 after experts warned
the close-quartered facilities could quickly become dangerous. The new coronavirus spread rapidly through many of Florida’s prisons, killing more than 140 prisoners and at least four corrections staff.
But because releases have continued on schedule while intakes drastically dropped, Glady said, the total population has noticeably dipped.
Over the last few years, about 6,000 or 7,000 new people are processed every three months into the state corrections system, including anyone sentenced to serve more than a year behind bars. But since March those numbers have dropped by almost 60%.
From April to June this year, FDC recorded fewer than 1,900 new intakes, and just 2,200 from July through September.
FDC officials did not respond to questions about whether the decrease in prisoners had allowed for better COVID-19 mitigation or improved isolation of sick prisoners, but officials said the lower population numbers have allowed the agency to manage around staffing woes, which have been a chronic issue exacerbated by the pandemic.
More than 3,300 FDC staff have tested positive for COVID since March, though FDC reported last week that more than 85% have been cleared to return to work. Almost 16,500 inmates have tested positive for coronavirus since the pandemic began, and about 97% have since been medically cleared.
But inmates and staff continue to test positive: In the last month, almost 550 inmates have newly tested positive, and more than380 new staff tests have come back positive, according to the FDC COVID-19 dashboard.
“We are using this time to alleviate staff vacancies at our institutions and focus our efforts on implementing our retention initiative priorities,” FDC Secretary Mark Inch said in a statement. He declined a request for an interview from the Orlando Sentinel.
Inch also said he expects the reduction in prison population to be temporary, which criminal justice leaders across the state said they also expect.
Trials were suspended statewide during the pandemic through July, and only recently have some counties started holding trials. In the Ninth Judicial Circuit, which includes Orange and Osceola counties, trials are planned to restart nextweek.
That long hiatus has created a growing case docket as arrests have continued, though it’s hard to pin point how many trials are pending, Ninth Judicial Circuit Chie fJudge Donald Myers Jr. said.
“We know we have very
significant backlogs accumulating,” Myers said. “... We couldn’t hold a trial on a panhandle case and we can’t hold a trial in amurder case, so everything hasbeen stalled in that regard.”
State Attorney Melissa Nelson, the top prosecutor over the Fourth Judicial Circuit which includes Jackson ville and surrounding counties, said she also believes the stalled criminal justice process has been a major factor in reducing the state’s prison population.
“We’re not in court, we’re not resolving cases, we’re not trying cases,” Nelson said at the beginning of this month. “We’re just starting to have trial dates.”
Nelson’s circuit thisweek is holding its first trial since the pandemic began.
Myers also said that he’s seen delays in transports from county jails to state prisons, even in cases that resolved without a trial, which has likely also decreased FDC intakes.
“If somebody enters a plea to an offense that would require prison time, that person is sitting in the Orange County Jail waiting to be transferred to the prison,” he said. “... Until they feel safe about moving inmates around with the potential spread of the virus, I think we’re going to continue to see some inmates who are waiting in the jails to be transferred to the prisons.”
Carrie Boyd, the policy director for the Southern Poverty Law Center in Florida, said while she thinks the lower prison population numbers are likely just COVID- related, she is hopeful the dip could provide an opportunity to advance criminal justice reform.
She said shewould like to see an analysis of whether this period of decreased incarceration has affected the crime rate, which could help showthat mass incarceration is not improving public safety. At the same time that FDC incarceration is down, local jails have not reported a higher average daily population in the last few months, according to county detention data.
“We haven’t seen this corresponding statistically significant increase in crime,” Boyd said.
Boyd also noted that the state’s latest budget cut had little impact on FDC — which she interpreted as Florida leaders signaling their intention to continue to incarcerate at pre-COVID capacity once the pandemic passes.
“I think the intent is still there ...to keep the numbers where they have been historically,” Boyd said. “The fact that the numbers are down... shows us that we have a lot of avenues for criminal justice reform that can be both safe and humane for all involved.”