Youth Marijuana and Prescription Drug Abuse in Anchorage

Complete issue of Alaska Justice Forum 33(1), Spring 2016 at https://scholarworks.alaska.edu/handle/11122/6883.This article examines results of the Adult Perceptions of Anchorage Youth: 2015 Survey (APAYS) to examine perceptions and concerns of Anchorage adults, both parents and non-parents, about youth marijuana use and youth non-medical use of prescription drugs. A resource list is included.Youth Substance Use / National Data on Youth Access to Substances / The Role of Adults and Parents in Youth Substance Use / About the Survey / Concern about Marijuana and Prescription Drug Use / Relative Safety of Various Substances / Risk of Harm from Marijuana and Prescription Drugs / Consequences of Marijuana and Prescription Drug Use / Youth Access to Prescription Drugs / Conclusion / Definition of Non-Medical Prescription Drug Use (sidebar) / Glossary (sidebar) / Resources (sidebar

The Anchorage, Alaska Municipal Pretrial Diversion Program: An Initial Assessment

Pretrial diversion programs have the potential to prevent future criminal behavior through intervention and community based services. This may be particularly true for specific populations of offenders such as those with mental illness, substance abuse disorder, and those with co-occuring disorders. Pretrial diversion programs take low-level offenders out of the jail population, both reducing system overpopulation and costs of incarceration. The programs also provide speedy case processing for minor crimes resulting in savings to the court system and personnel. Pretrial diversion can help an offender avoid a criminal conviction and potentially avoid future criminal violations. Results indicate that most Anchorage pretrial defendants comply with and complete the pretrial conditions in a very short time period, an additional savings in case processing time. This research details the initial assessment of the Anchorage Municipal Prosecutor Pretrial Diversion program. This assessment examines system savings in time and money, as well as policy implications for the justice system that may assist other jurisdictions as they consider implementing a pretrial diversion program

The Anchorage, Alaska Municipal Pretrial Diversion Program: Initial Outcome Assessment

This report provides an initial outcome assessment of the Anchorage Municipal Pretrial Diversion Program, a voluntary program aimed at diverting first-time offenders in certain criminal and traffic cases from traditional case processing, with successful complion of the terms of the program resulting in dismissal of charges. Pretrial diversion agreements under AMC 08.05.060 typically require the defendant to pay a fine or do community work service, usually within a month. The initial assessment examines offender completion under the program, adherence to conditions of probation, and time and cost savings for the Anchorage Municipal Prosecutor's Office.Office of the Anchorage Municipal Prosecutor, Municipality of Anchorage, AKAcknowledgments / Section I: Executive Summary / Counts and Charges of Defendants Offered Pretrial Diversion / Demographic Variations Among Defendants Offered Pretrial Diversion / Conditions of Pretrial Diversion / Length of Time for Pretrial Diversion Processes / Number of Court Hearings and Estimated Time Spent / Section II: Introduction / Section III: Literature Review / Descriptions of Pretrial Diversion / Pretrial Diversion in the United States / Description of Pretrial Diversion in Anchorage / Section IV: Methods / Data Collection / Section VI: Findings / Counts and Charges of Defendants Offered Pretrial Diversion / Demographic Variations Among Defendants Offered Pretrial Diversion / Conditions of Pretrial Diversion / Length of Time for Pretrial Diversion Processes / Number of Court Hearings and Estimated Time Spent / Section VII: Conclusion / References / Appendix: Anchorage Municipal Pretrial Diversion Data Collection For

Tribal Courts and Minor Consuming Alcohol Cases: Researching Recidivism and Responsiveness

Complete resources for the Minor Consuming Alcohol (MCA) Conference held April 4, 2014 at the Alaska Court System's Snowden Training Center can be found at https://tinyurl.com/mca-alaska. (Long link https://www.uaa.alaska.edu/academics/college-of-health/departments/justice-center/events/2014-events/2014-04-04.mca_conference.cshtml).This presentation provides an overview of issues involved in researching recidivism and response to underage drinking in Alaska tribal courts.Why do research on tribal courts? / Challenges to Alaska tribal court research / Why study Minor Consuming Alcohol cases? / How do you measure effectiveness? / How do you study recidivism? / How do you study attitudinal measures

Increasing dominance of terrigenous organic matter in circumpolar freshwaters due to permafrost thaw

Climate change and permafrost thaw are unlocking the vast storage of organic carbon held in northern frozen soils. Here, we evaluated the effects of thawing ice-rich permafrost on dissolved organic matter (DOM) in freshwaters by optical analysis of 253 ponds across the circumpolar North. For a subset of waters in subarctic Quebec, we also quantified the contribution of terrestrial sources to the DOM pool by stable isotopes. The optical measurements showed a higher proportion of terrestrial carbon and a lower algal contribution to DOM in waters affected by thawing permafrost. DOM composition was largely dominated (mean of 93%) by terrestrial substances at sites influenced by thawing permafrost, while the terrestrial influence was much less in waterbodies located on bedrock (36%) or with tundra soils unaffected by thermokarst processes (42%) in the catchment. Our results demonstrate a strong terrestrial imprint on freshwater ecosystems in degrading ice-rich permafrost catchments, and the likely shift toward increasing dominance of land-derived organic carbon in waters with ongoing permafrost thaw.Peer reviewe

Reformation of Justice of the Peace Courts: Case Studies in New York State and the Province of Ontario, Canada

Quasi-judicial officers play a large role in court administration and adjudication in the legal systems of both the United States and Canada. While there is a large amount of variation in their titles, (such as magistrate, commissioner, referee, or justice of the peace), quasi or lay judges are widely used in many of the United States and in the Canadian provinces. They generally have a very small and limited scope of authority inclusive of mostly small civil and in some jurisdictions criminal matters, and they customarily operate in rural areas with small populations. While there exists widespread use of these quasi-judicial officers, there exist as well problems with the use of a quasi-judiciary. Policy and legal debates have centered on the use of lay judges with little or no legal training, the selection process of these judges, and the lack of resources tied to limited local funding for these judges. Some suggestions for alleviating the dilemmas associated with quasi-judicial officers involve increasing educational requirements and the resources of the quasi-judges, and additionally choosing these quasi-judges through a merit selection process.Little empirical research on previous reform efforts for quasi-judicial officers exists among numerous legal opinions that generally either argue for the need of and continued use of these officers or for the abolition of quasi-judicial systems all together. This lack of research makes it difficult to assess the utility of the role that these officers play as well as to determine what types of reform efforts, if any, are needed. This is an empirically grounded examination of recently enacted reform efforts concerning increasing the legitimacy of the power and authority of quasi-judges in the state of New York, and the Canadian province of Ontario. Documentary and interview data are being used to assess the impact of reforms already implemented in these two locations. The policy implications of this work influences the continued use of these quasi-judicial officers who save time and money in an increasingly complex legal system by hearing many of the small civil and criminal cases that would clog the courts of general jurisdiction in their absence

Alaska Justice Forum ; Vol. 29, No. 2 (Summer 2012)

The Summer 2012 issue of the Alaska Justice Forum features articles on public perceptions of judicial fairness in Alaska criminal courts, an initiative to improve the system of in-state community-based treatment for youth and children with severe emotional disturbances and challenging behaviors, and an update on the work of the Criminal Justice Working Group."Public Perceptions of Judicial Fairness" by Brad A. Myrstol and Cory R. Lepage / "Bring the Kids Home': Alaska Community-Based Treatment for Children and Youth" by Barbara Armstrong / "Criminal Justice Working Group Update" / "Correction to Alaska Judicial Council Report" / "Dr. Rosay Awarded Visiting Executive Research Fellowship with National Institute of Justice" / "New Faculty

Alaska Justice Forum ; Vol. 33 No. 1 (Spring 2016)

The Spring 2016 issue of the Alaska Justice Forum includes articles focusing on University of Alaska students' disclosures of sexual misconduct and sexual assault victimizations; a summary of the provisions of the criminal justice reform measure Senate Bill 91 "Omnibus Criminal Law & Procedure; Corrections" enacted into law in July 2016 ; and findings from a survey of Anchorage adults on perceptions of youth marijuana use and youth non-medical use of prescription drugs."University of Alaska Students’ Disclosures of Sexual Misconduct and Sexual Assault Victimizations" by Brad A. Myrstol and Lindsey Blumenstein / "Senate Bill 91: Summary of Policy Reforms" / "Youth Marijuana and Prescription Drug Abuse in Anchorage" by Marny Rivera and Cory R. Lepage / "New Staff" / "New Look and Web Addresses for the Justice Center