The Denver Post

Prison deaths climbed in pandemic

- By Jennifer ValentinoD­evries and Allie Pitchon

Deaths in state and federal prisons across America rose nearly 50% during the first year of the pandemic, and in six states, they more than doubled, according to the first comprehens­ive data on prison fatalities in the era of COVID19.

The tremendous jump in deaths in 2020 was more than twice the increase in the United States overall and even exceeded estimates of the percentage increase at nursing homes, among the hardest- hit sectors nationwide. In many states, the data showed, high rates continued in 2021.

Although there was ample evidence that prisons were COVID- 19 hot spots, an examinatio­n of the data by The New York Times underscore­d how quickly the virus rampaged through crowded facilities and how an aging inmate population, a correction­al staffing shortage and ill- equipped medical personnel combined to make prisoners especially vulnerable during the worst public health crisis in a century.

“There are so many who passed away due to not getting the medical care they needed,” said Teresa Bebeau, whose imprisoned friend died from complicati­ons of COVID- 19 and cancer in South Carolina. “Most of these people, they didn’t go in there with death sentences, but they’re dying.”

COVID- 19 infections drove the death totals, but inmates also succumbed to other illnesses, suicide and violence, according to the data, which was collected by law school researcher­s at UCLA and which provides a more detailed, accurate look at deaths in prison systems during the pandemic than earlier efforts.

Altogether, at least 6,182 people died in American prisons in 2020, compared with 4,240 the previous year, even as the country’s prison population declined to about 1.3 million from more than 1.4 million.

Several of the states with the highest mortality rates in 2020 had a history of elevated prison deaths, including Alabama, Arkansas, South Carolina and West Virginia. Researcher­s said the high numbers — 96 deaths per 10,000 prisoners in West Virginia, more than in any other state — stemmed from long sentences, harsh conditions and relatively poor public health overall.

“Clearly, the pandemic is the story, but it is just a part of the story,” said Aaron Littman, an assistant professor and the acting director of the UCLA Law Behind Bars Data Project.

Chrysti Shain, a spokespers­on for the South Carolina Correction­s Department, said a lack of testing early in the pandemic had contribute­d to increased infections. “South Carolina has made significan­t changes in both its medical and mental health care systems over the past decade” to improve care in prisons, she said. Prison officials in the three other states did not respond to requests for comment.

Even some states with typically lower death rates saw a surge. Michigan and Nevada each had about 70 fatalities per 10,000 inmates in 2020, up from about 30 the previous year.

Nationally, the prison population is graying — in part because of inmates who were incarcerat­ed under tough sentencing laws in the 1980s and 1990s.

In 2009, about 10% of all prisoners were 50 or older; by 2019, that number had jumped to 21%, according to the Justice Department. By the time they reach their 50s, prisoners are considered elderly, their expected life spans shortened by their years behind bars and, in many cases, drug use and poverty.

Of the 46 inmates who died in West Virginia in 2020, 42 were older than 50; six were in their 80s.

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