The Lab reports, “Over the past year, we have seen the dangers of COVID-19 outbreaks in jails and prisons, where more than 570,000 people have contracted the virus and at least 2,500 residents and staff have died. But as the pandemic rages on, even jurisdictions that safely reduced their jail populations in order to mitigate risk have since resumed prior practices, filling their jails and excarberating already heightened risks. Detaining people who pose no danger to the public in crowded, unsanitary jails and prisons not only endangers those who are incarcerated, it also subjects staff and the broader community to needless risk as new, more virulent strains of COVID-19 make their way into the United States. ”