Federal prison population, according to BOP report of "Total Federal Inmates," now at 158,838

Another Thursday morning calls for another COVID-era check on the federal Bureau of Prisons' updated "Total Federal Inmates" numbers; we continue to see historic declines, though this week's decline is a bit lower than we have seen in weeks past.  This prior post detailed that, according to BOP's reporting, most weeks through April the federal prison population shrunk around or over 1,000 persons per week; through May, as detailed here, the pace of weekly decline increased to an average of around 1,200 fewer reported prisoners; though June, as detailed here, declines continued at a slightly reduced rate of about 950 fewer persons reported in all federal facilities on average per week.

As of mid-July, we have hit another new historic low as the new BOP numbers at this webpage report "Total Federal Inmates" at 158,838.   This total represents a decline of 854 persons from last week's total of 159,692.  (For more recent context, the BOP reported population dropped from 163,441 (as of June 11) to 162,578 (as of June 18) to 161,640 (as of June 25) to 160,690 (as of July 2).) 

Because of the disconcerting reality that the COVID-19 crisis does not seem to be letting up, especially in large jurisdictions that generate lots of federal criminal cases like Arizona, California, Florida and Texas, I doubt these federal prison population declines are going to reverse anytime soon.  This new AP article discussing prison populations declines more generally highlights that "head counts have dropped largely because prisons stopped accepting new prisoners from county jails to avoid importing the virus, court closures meant fewer people were receiving sentences and parole officers sent fewer people back inside for low-level violations."  It seems to me unlikely that these trends will stop in the near future.

A few of many prior related posts:

• Federal prison population, thanks in part to the FIRST STEP Act, hits lowest level in over 15 years (from July 2019)
• Federal prison population, due seemingly to COVID responses, hits another modern low (which is still very high) (from April 2020)
• According to BOP reporting, federal prison population now shrinking about 1,000 persons per week (from April 2020)
• Federal prison population drops below 170,000 for first time in nearly two decades (from May 2020)
• As federal prison population continues remarkable decline, can anyone predict what might be a new normal? (from May 2020)
• Is the number of federal prisoners about to spike up as BOP moves nearly 7000 new inmates into federal facilities? (from May 2020) 
• Federal inmate population, as reported by BOP, continues steady decline (which continues my wondering about data)(from May 2020)
• "Total Federal Inmates," as reported by BOP, drops below 165,000 (from June 2020)
• "Total Federal Inmates," as reported by BOP, drops another 1000 down to 163,441 (from June 2020)
• BOP accounting of "Total Federal Inmates" continues to drop, though pace may be slowing (from four weeks ago)
• Federal prison population, per BOP accounting of "Total Federal Inmates," drops down to 161,640 (from three weeks ago)
• As July starts, "Total Federal Inmates" as reported by BOP, down to 160,690 (from two weeks ago)
• Federal prison population, per BOP report of "Total Federal Inmates," drops below 160,000 (from last week)