How Is The Justice System Responding to the Coronavirus? It Depends On Where You Live.

Philadelphia had not even 50 confirmed coronavirus cases last week when officials there began announcing changes to their justice system amid the pandemic.

Police Chief Danielle Outlaw told officers on March 17 to stop bringing people arrested for non-violent crimes like burglary and vandalism to police stations and jails. Instead, they would be issued arrest warrants to be served later “as conditions dictate.” District Attorney Larry Krasner changed his office’s bail policy a couple days later, aiming to reduce how many people were jailed. “Jails and prisons are already dirty, crowded places,” he explained.

Meanwhile in New Orleans, where cases had already reached nine times the per capita rate of Philadelphia, officials showed much less urgency. As recently as March 18, District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro’s office was opposing motions to release jailed people, arguing they might “pose a threat to the general public by potentially spreading the virus”—even though no defendant in jail had tested positive. The police department said it would take “more incident reports by phone when appropriate,”