The U.S. Criminal Justice System in the Pandemic Era and Beyond

By the end of November 2020, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was estimated to have resulted in the deaths of between 268,000 and 360,000 Americans.1 The spread of the disease  stressed  the  U.S.  health  care  system,  with  the  number  of  people  needing  care  over-whelming available resources in some parts of the country. Both the disease and the actions taken to respond to it stressed the country as a whole and had broad impacts on the economic system and government agencies at all levels.