Michigan has been a national hot spot for COVID-19 infections in prisons. As of June 22, 2020, Michigan had the third highest case rate and second highest death rate among all states and the federal prison system. On March 29, Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed Executive Order 2020-29, in which she strongly encouraged jail and juvenile facilities across the state to urgently decrease populations and ordered a stop to all transfers into state prison facilities. As of June 10, the average daily population of Michigan’s county jails had decreased by an average of 45.2 percent in the counties Vera received data from (51 of the 83 counties, representing more than two-thirds of the state’s population). The state prison population has decreased by less than 6 percent.
Below you’ll find a set of tools for tracking how Michigan’s criminal justice system is responding to the crisis. In addition to the resources on this page, Vera created a series of guidance briefs on bold changes government agencies can take to respond to COVID-19 in the criminal justice system.