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Advocacy groups and medical experts said Wednesday that governors should release more low-level criminals to help contain the spread of the coronavirus. The public health benefits, they argued, extend far beyond prison walls. Prisons have been a hotbed of coronavirus outbreaks since social distancing is nearly impossible given the number of shared cells and communal spaces. There’s also a severe lack of masks and gloves for inmates. (Bucchino, 5/20)

The Maine Department of Corrections is waiting on test results for more than 120 inmates after one tested positive at a prison in Windham, the first step in determining whether a Cumberland County correctional facility is home to the state’s next coronavirus outbreak. (Andrews and Ferguson, 5/20)

The Nevada Department of Corrections announced on Wednesday a “comprehensive” plan to test prisoners for the new coronavirus. Officials made the announcement shortly after the first case of a Nevada prisoner testing positive for the virus was reported. According to data from the Department of Health and Human Services, which was last updated Wednesday morning, an inmate at High Desert State Prison has tested positive for the virus. (Newberg, 5/20)

Following calls from prisoner advocates and employee unions, Maryland will undertake universal testing at state prisons and juvenile centers, Gov. Larry Hogan announced Wednesday. Six state prison inmates have died from the coronavirus so far, and hundreds of inmates and employees have tested positive for the virus. Juvenile facilities have also experienced outbreaks, including the Silver Oak Academy in Carroll County, where dozens of children and staff tested positive. (Wood and Jackson, 5/20)

More than 3,200 prisoners in California have contracted Covid-19 and at least 16 inmates have died, in a public health catastrophe that advocates say was both predictable and preventable. Inmates and advocates told the Guardian that at six prisons and jails with rapidly escalating outbreaks, basic protocols to prevent the virus from spreading are being ignored, and that they fear imminent mass fatalities and hospitalizations. (Levin, 5/20)

President Donald Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen will be released early from prison on Thursday and is expected to serve out the remainder of his sentence at home as coronavirus continues to spread behind bars, according to a person familiar with the matter. Cohen will be released on furlough while he completes the process of being moved to home confinement, the person said. (Shortell and LeBlanc, 5/20)