This map depicts the percentage of each prison infected since the start of the pandemic, with respect to the number of inmates that prison houses. This metric is visually portrayed through the relative sizes of each of the points, each representing one of the 35 CA prisons in our data. The average percent of prisoners infected amongst all CA prisons is 19%, and is similar to that seen in states like Florida (20.12%), Texas (21.86%), New Jersey (21.38%), etc (The Marshall Project 2020). Beneath the percent prison infected layer lies a color gradient county boundary, for the county each prison is located within. Counties with lighter green shading indicate relative lower population counts, whereas dark green indicates a higher population. County population counts range from 28,000 to over 10,000,000, going to show the importance of having an at least county level localized approach to managing COVID-19.
Holistically speaking, this map suggests that prisons located in or near populous counties have had a higher degree of COVID-19 infection within them. This is well seen by observing prisons like Folsom State Prison (Sacramento County), California Rehabilitation Center and Chuckwalla State Prison (Riverside County), and California Institute for Men (San Bernardino County). Each of these prisons have a percent infected rate of over 60%, and are located in counties with populations of over 1,500,000. Moreover, in terms of raw case count, the four prisons account for over 36.5% of cases recorded across all 35 prisons, implying that their populations are quite sizable. Conversely, prisons in counties with low populations, like the Sierra Conservation Center (Tuolumne County), or Calipatria SP (Imperial County), generally show a low percentage of infected population.
Exceptions to this trend in lower populous counties are San Quentin SP (Marin County), and Avenal SP (Kings County). In addition to its proximity to the heavily populated Bay Area, San Quentin SP may have a high number of cases due to negligence of prison authorities. Towards the start of the pandemic, San Quentin authorities did little to prevent the transfer of over 121 individuals from the California Institute for Men—as mentioned previously. The subsequent COVID-19 nightmare at the prison was later attributed to this event (Komala 2020). Months into the pandemic, San Quentin authorities are failing to comply with a state mandate to halve their prison capacity to 50%; as of December 7th, this number stands at 93% (Komala 2020). At Avenal SP, poor regulation of prison staff has led to staff being able to work shifts in different prison yards, even if that shift is in a quarantined area. This violates CDC guidance mandating prison employees remain in the “same area of the facility across shifts,” and attributes to the disproportionate number of cases at Avenal SP (Klein 2020).
