US prison population falls sharply as pandemic disrupts justice system
State and federal head counts have dropped 8%, largely because prisons are not accepting new inmates and many courts are closed
There has been a major drop in the number of people behind bars in the US.
Between March and June, more than 100,000 were released from state and federal prisons, a decrease of 8%, according to analysis by the Marshall Project and the Associated Press. The drops range from 2% in Virginia to 22% in Connecticut. By comparison, the state and federal prison population decreased by 2.2% in all of 2019, according to the Vera Institute of Justice.
Read more: theguardian.com
