The rapid spread of the novel coronavirus in the United States is expediting criminal justice reforms that advocates have pushed for decades. At least nine prosecutors are now fast-tracking reforms to reduce the number of incarcerated people kept in conditions that can speed the rate of infection, and to stop new prosecutions of low level nonviolent offenses. For reformers, scholars, and elected officials alike, swift changes from prosecutorial offices across the country raise the question: Why not earlier? And with those changes in place, can things go back to the way they were? “There is a real question that needs to be asked after this crisis is over about sort of reimagining what our justice system looks like,” said Lauren-Brooke Eisen, director of the Brennan Center’s Justice Program. “This is gonna be a really important moment for criminal justice reform where a lot of police, prosecutors, corrections agencies say, ‘Let’s not go back,’ — this is our hope, right? Let’s not go back to where we were,” Eisen said. Close and often unhygienic quarters can compound the spread of a disease. That makes prisons potential hot spots for the spread of the new coronavirus — and increasing numbers of cases are being documented. The number of cases at Rikers Island in New York City, for example, ballooned from 29 on Sunday to at least 80 inmates and staff by Tuesday; one corrections officer died earlier this month. The first positive coronavirus tests in Philadelphia jails were reported Friday.

“It’s really frustrating that the couple weeks we had when we could have ramped up to get people out before today were not used as efficiently as they could have been,” Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner told The Intercept. He called on Gov. Tom Wolf and Attorney General Josh Shapiro to step up. “The police commissioner, the public defender, and the district attorney’s office have been on this for a couple weeks making difficult decisions,” Krasner said. The danger of the pandemic has led some prosecutors — especially a new crop of self-styled progressive prosecutors like Krasner in Philadelphia, Marilyn Mosby in Baltimore, and Chesa Boudin in San Francisco — to take action in recent weeks to divert people away from prison and release people already there on nonviolent charges for things like drug charges, sex work, and other low-level offenses. “It’s not every prosecutor across the country, by any means,” Eisen said. “But certainly a significant number of them have started to use their discretion to respond proactively.” A 2016 report showed that just under 40 percent of people in state and federal prisons were behind bars with no compelling public safety rationale, meaning they could be released while still keeping communities safe, Eisen said. “It is only devastating communities, tearing apart families, increasing intergenerational poverty. And to what end?” The advent of the new coronavirus has made keeping people in prison even more destructive. Reforms Underway At least nine prosecutors announced they will not be prosecuting low-level offenses in the wake of the pandemic. Krasner, Mosby, and Boudin were among more than 30 prosecutors who released a joint statement this month urging local officials to implement changes to decrease the number of incarcerated people and curb the potential spread of coronavirus within prisons. The prosecutors drew a contrast between the treatment of incarcerated people and drastic wider measures like school closures and travel restrictions. “Those measures are all sensible,” the statement reads, “but they also drive home how little attention is being paid to the millions of people in the most overcrowded conditions that are ripe for the spread of this contagious and deadly virus: the people behind bars in America’s jails, prisons, and immigration detention centers.” Many of the progressive-leaning prosecutors have already taken action. Last week in Philadelphia, Krasner asked the city’s police department to prioritize dangerous offenses over nonviolent arrests in response to the spread of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States. Krasner’s office also announced it would change a series of charging practices to help prevent the virus from spreading. Pennsylvania’s First Judicial District, which covers Philadelphia, has closed its courts until at least April 1. On Tuesday, Philadelphia police officers received a directive to stop making arrests for nonviolent crimes including drug offenses, sex work, retail and auto theft, and vandalism. Krasner’s office has already identified incarcerated people eligible for potential release, including those over the age of 60 and in mentally fragile states, and shared those records with the city’s Defender Association, which called on judges earlier this month to release eligible people en masse. In an email Monday, Krasner’s office said prison admissions had decreased but discharges had not increased meaningfully. By Friday, Krasner’s office said, the number of discharges had improved, but not enough relative to the need.