{"id":11150,"date":"2020-12-21T10:24:48","date_gmt":"2020-12-21T15:24:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.prisonpolicy.org\/blog\/?p=11150"},"modified":"2026-01-09T16:10:36","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T21:10:36","slug":"overcrowding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.prisonpolicy.org\/blog\/2020\/12\/21\/overcrowding\/","title":{"rendered":"Since you asked: Just how overcrowded were prisons before the pandemic, and at this time of social distancing, how overcrowded are they now?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nBefore the pandemic, nine state prison systems and the BOP were operating at 100% capacity or more. These prison systems were holding more people than their facilities were designed to house. Now, 10 months into the pandemic, we find that there are still far too many people crowded into prisons across the country.1<\/a><\/sup> Despite the ongoing pandemic, and efforts to reduce<\/a> the number of people behind bars, we calculated that 41 states are currently operating at 75% or more of their capacity, with at least nine of those state prison systems and the federal Bureau of Prisons are still operating at more than 100%. Only one state \u2014 Maine \u2014 has a current prison population below 50% of their capacity.2<\/a><\/sup>\n<\/p>\n