Rounding up recent COVID criminal justice headlines and worthwhile reads

Pandemics do not take a break for the weekend, and I will try to cover a lot of recent COVID criminal justice news through headlines and links.  In no particular order:

• “Crime Rates Plummet Around the World as the Coronavirus Keeps People Inside“

• “Gov. Stitt approves hundreds of prison commutations to mitigate coronavirus spread“

• “Court blocks Gov. Abbott’s order limiting jail release during pandemic after judges challenged its constitutionality“

• “State Supreme Court Orders Inslee to Take ‘All Necessary Steps’ to Protect Inmates From Coronavirus“

• “COVID-19 leads to ‘hyper-acceleration’ of some criminal justice reforms in Tennessee“

• “El Chapo, Unabomber safe as ‘Alcatraz of the Rockies’ reports no coronavirus cases“

• “Michael Avenatti released from jail temporarily over coronavirus concerns“

• “Health Care Workers Ask States To Hand Over Death Penalty Drugs Needed To Fight Covid-19 Pandemic“

In addition to lots of notable news, there is also a lot of notable commentary that I can will try to review in quick form with titles and links:

• “Governors Are Too Cowardly To Solve The Coronavirus Outbreak In Prisons” by Angelina Chapin

• “Every Public Official With The Power To Decarcerate Must Exercise That Power Now” by Sharon Dolovich

• “Officials must work to release low-risk, non-violent offenders during COVID” by Jackie Lacey

• “COVID-19 shows why we need misdemeanor criminal justice reform” by Annika Olson

• “The Forever Bars” by John Pfaff

• “Large scale releases and public safety” by Peter Wagner