Our Reporting on Coronavirus
Coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, criminal justice and immigration.
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Freed from prison, they couldn’t escape COVID-19. First federal prison officials objected to the early release of medically-vulnerable prisoners as the coronavirus swept through the nation’s penitentiaries. Then, when they finally relented and permitted elderly prisoners to leave they failed to test them, allowing people infected with COVID-19 to disperse throughout the country. Here’s what that looked like at FCI Butner, in North Carolina, scene of the deadliest coronavirus outbreak within the Bureau of Prisons. Read our story.
People who live and work in the justice system face unique challenges.
Women are the less visible victims of COVID-19 behind bars. Though only a small number have died their stories illuminate the unique problems women face in prison. Read more.
More on living and working conditions
We’re watching how the criminal justice system responds to the crisis.
A county trying to reopen its economy wrestles with a virus outbreak in prison. So local officials proposed a solution: Don’t count the prisoners. Read more.
More on accountability
