This paper reviews the distinct nature of the COVID-19 pandemic and examines the resultant court responses and recommendations disseminated by various entities that support courts. Specifically, we contextualize the current environment the present pandemic has created by considering how it compares to the most-recent previous pandemics. We then review guidelines disseminated to the courts and the modifications and innovations implemented by the courts in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Additional challenges related to these recommendations and modifications are identified and discussed.

Marijuana is the most widely used illegal substance in the world, and persistent and frequent use during adolescence has been associated with precocious transitions and deleterious consequences in adulthood. This study used a group-based trajectory approach to analyze panel data collected from 1,725 youth participating in the National Youth Study to describe pathways of marijuana use and to explore protective factors that may reduce the continuation of use. A trajectory approach allowed us to operationalize risk based on prior within-person patterns of self-reported marijuana use. Three trajectory groups of marijuana users were identified: chronic users (17%), rising users (40%), and abstainers (43%). Our results show that some protective factors are significantly associated with decreases in marijuana use for each trajectory group (e.g., parent disapproval and non-using peer associations), but others are significantly associated with decreases in marijuana for a particular trajectory group and not others (e.g., school attachment for chronic marijuana users). The implications of our findings are discussed for the risk and protective factor framework, as well as their importance in a society where opinions of marijuana are currently changing.

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In line with reentry and life course research that has shown increases in desistance for individuals connected with employment, work release programming attempts to achieve desistance from crime by linking criminal offenders to the labor market while in the correctional system. Recent research has speculated that the completion of rigorous employment programming may serve as a signal to employers that criminal careers have ceased and the offenders are employable. Therefore, it is important to understand factors associated with successful program completion. This study utilizes a sample of jail-based work release participants to explore factors correlated with program completion. Consistent with prior research, we find that offenders who are older, Caucasian, and employed at time of arrest are more likely to complete the program and that minority participants and those with prior mental health treatment are less likely to complete the program.