Federal prison population drops below 170,000 for first time in nearly two decades

I have been making a habit on Thursdays, which is when the federal Bureau of Prisons updates its general population numbers, of highlighting notable aspects of the newest federal prison population data (as evidenced in prior posts here and here).   I have highlighted that, according to BOP’s reporting of the numbers, throughout the month of April the federal prison population was shrinking about 1,000 persons per week.  We are now into May, and the new numbers at this webpage shows an even bigger weekly decline in total number of federal inmates as calculated by BOP: since last week, the population has gone down from 170,435 as of April 30 to now a total of 169,080 as of May 7, 2020.

Notably, the BOP’s COVID-19 Update page now reports that “the BOP has placed an additional 2144 on home confinement.”   That amounts to an increase of roughly 339 more inmates placed on home confinement since last week, which would seemingly account for only about a quarter of this week’s overall population decrease.  These data still further reinforce my sense that a reduced inflow of prisoners — due, I would guess, to many sentencings and reportings to prisons being delayed — accounts for the lion’s share of the prison population decline in recent months.

It will be interesting to continue to watch in the weeks and months ahead whether the federal prison population will continue to decline in this way.  But the decline below 170,000 as the total federal prison population already feels historic, as Fiscal Year 2002 was the last time the federal prison population checked in at the end of the year below that threshold.  (And, if were to focus on the federal imprisonment rate, we are now on par with our federal incarceration levels from the mid 1990s.)

These federal prison data are heartening for those of us who have long believed, in the words of then-Attorney General Eric Holder, “that too many Americans go to too many prisons for far too long, and for no truly good law enforcement reason.”  But, in these somber and disconcerting days, I feel compelled to flag just some of many recent headlines that document, yet again, that there is still as lot of somber and disconcerting news coming from the federal prison system:

From The Appeal, “Death Of New Mother At Federal Prison Hospital Prompts Calls For Accountability In Texas“

From Cleveland.com, “Ohio man becomes eighth Elkton federal prison inmate to die of coronavirus“

From Forbes, “Minimum Security Inmates Locked In Cells For Quarantine Are At Breaking Point“

From NJ.com, “N.J. federal prison is becoming a ‘deathtrap,’ ACLU says, seeking release of vulnerable inmates“

From the Santa Barbara Independent, “Lompoc Prison Reports Second COVID-19 Death“