The pandemic has been a time of uncertainty for a lot of us. If that’s the case for people outside jail walls, it’s doubly so for those inside.
Early on in the pandemic, stopping the spread of COVID-19 in jail was a huge concern. In Wayne County, the jail population dropped 40% as people were released on electronic monitors, posted bail, or had their charges dismissed. But not everyone got sent home.
And for the past two years, many of those remaining in jail have seen their court dates delayed by closures in the county’s Third Circuit Court due to COVID restrictions and short-staffing.
Michigan Radio reporters Beenish Ahmed and Nisa Khan found that at least 120 people have spent 18 months or more in the Wayne County jail system, without a conviction or even a trial.
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