Regular readers know that I have been closely watching COVID-era changes in the federal prison population because of dramatic declines in the federal Bureau of Prisons' weekly updated "Total Federal Inmates" numbers. At the start if the COVID era, the reported federal prison population was around 175,000. But, as I highlighted in a series of prior posts, according to BOP's reporting, most weeks through much of the spring the federal prison population shrunk around or over 1,000 persons per week. Into and through the summer months, weekly declines continued but at a rate closer to about 500. Roughly a month ago, as reported in this post, the BOP reported "Total Federal Inmates" was down to 155,483; but then, as noted here, the BOP reported federal prison population ticked up a few hundred persons the following week for first time in COVID era.
Today, checking the new BOP numbers at this webpage report "Total Federal Inmates" shows seemingly a new modern population low at 155,197. So, though it seems weekly federal prison population declines are no longer consistent or dramatic, we still seem to be experiencing small decreases many weeks and thus it is possible we have not yet hit "the bottom" as to COVID era federal prison population declines.
I have wondered repeatedly in these posts whether COVID-delayed sentencings or stalled federal prison transfers or any number of other factors may largely account for these declines. But a persistent lack of any real-time sentencing data from the US Sentencing Commission and the opaque nature of BOP data make it hard for me to be sure just what these weekly reported population numbers represent. I remain hopeful that we may eventually get some timely sentencing data from the USSC, but I am not optimistic it will ever be easy to fully understand and account for all the ways the the federal criminal process and prison populations have been impacted by and are adjusting to the COVID era.
A few of many prior related posts:
- Federal prison population, thanks in part to the FIRST STEP Act, hits lowest level in over 15 years (from July 2019)
- Federal prison population, due seemingly to COVID responses, hits another modern low (which is still very high) (from April 2020)
- Federal prison population drops below 170,000 for first time in nearly two decades (from May 2020)
- As federal prison population continues remarkable decline, can anyone predict what might be a new normal? (from May 2020)
- "Total Federal Inmates," as reported by BOP, drops below 165,000 (from June 2020)
- Federal prison population, per BOP report of "Total Federal Inmates," drops below 160,000 (from early July 2020)
- Federal prison population, per BOP reporting, now down to 157,862 (from late July 2020)
- Federal prison population, per BOP report of "Total Federal Inmates," now down to 156,415 (from mid Aug 2020)
- Federal prison population now down to 155,483 according to BOP reporting (from Sept 10, 2020)
- BOP reported federal prison population ticks up for first time in COVID era (from Sept 17, 2020)
No comments:
Post a Comment