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2020-03-30

‘Jails Are Petri Dishes’

As the US faced the real threat of the coronavirus it became clear that "jails are petri dishes." Due to overcrowding and the large number of people that go in and out of the buildings daily it is impossible to stop the virus from coming in and spreading rapidly. Government and prison officials began discussing early release or releasing those still awaiting trial, particularly for nonviolent offenses. As with the rest of the nation the fear is that the virus will spread so quickly that the nations medical system will be overwhelmed. The same is true within the prison but the fear is that the inmates and employees of the prisons will add to the medical crises outside the prison.