4 ms·

american legal system is already massively backed up + there is also a judge shortage https://calmatters.org/justice/2021/01/justice-courts-overwhelmed-pandemi

american legal system is already massively backed up + there is also a judge shortage https://calmatters.org/justice/2021/01/justice-courts-overwhelmed-pandemic/ https://calmatters.org/justice/2021/01/justice-courts-overwh... https://legal.thomsonreuters.com/en/insights/articles/backlog-reshape-future-courts https://legal.thomsonreuters.com/en/insights/articles/backlo... https://www.dcreport.org/2022/01/12/theres-a-critical-shortage-of-federal-judges/ https://www.dcreport.org/2022/01/12/theres-a-critical-shorta...

dghlsakjg 5y ago
And yet, drug task forces seem to have no problem getting warrants pretty quick to search a car that is stopped. “The system is broke” feels like a poor excuse for arbitrarily handing over all of someone’s data without notification
- judge2020 5y ago
  > drug task forces seem to have no problem getting warrants pretty quick to search a car that is stopped. Does this happen often? Most stops tell the story of the officer having probable cause for a search, even if that's just the smell of weed or something (not sure if it's still a valid reason).
- Larrikin 5y ago
  Despite what the Jay-Z song says police don't need a warrant to search your car https://baldanilaw.com/jay-zs-99-problems/ https://baldanilaw.com/jay-zs-99-problems/
  - boomboomsubban 5y ago
    The only part that seems to contradict Jay-Z on is his need to leave his car, and adds that the police could "smell marijuana" to get probable cause.
xboxnolifes 5y ago
The legal system has been (claimed to be) backed up since I was born. My question, as someone not familiar, is what are the plans to resolve this perpetual backlog? And, are these massive backlogs concentrated in certain areas (bigger cities?) or are they pretty evenly dispersed?
- Spooky23 5y ago
  That’s mostly agitation by the bar association looking for more employment with public benefits. There’s always a constraint in resources to take cases to trial - for obvious reasons, they are expensive affairs. A warrant is mostly boilerplate and there’s no shortage of judges to review them.
- JumpCrisscross 5y ago
  > what are the plans to resolve this perpetual backlog? None. The problem is esoteric. The minority that misunderstands it as a handout to lawyers [1], too vocal. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30874477 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30874477
- everforward 5y ago
  > My question, as someone not familiar, is what are the plans to resolve this perpetual backlog? Plea deals are the current tool attempting to address that. They take drastically less time and resources. Scholars estimate 90 to 95 percent of cases are resolved via plea deals at this point. It's been going on long enough that I think we've actually adjusted prison sentences to entice it; we have incredibly long prison sentences relative to the rest of the world, to scare people into taking a deal where they serve a more normal numbers of years. It's not unheard of for innocent people to take a plea to serve 30 days in jail instead of risking trial and serving 4 years or something like that. If a majority of defendants actually exercised their right to a trial, our judicial system would fall apart. We don't have nearly enough judges, lawyers, or courthouses for that to happen, and it would start triggering 6th Amendment "right to a speedy trial" issues. I'm of the opinion that the current system of plea deals is unconstitutional, because it establishes a penalty for exercising 6th Amendment rights to a trial. If the plea deal is 60 days in jail, or they're going to go to trial and recommend the maximum, we are coercing people into not exercising their rights. If the court believes that 60 days is a reasonable sentence for the crime, it shouldn't matter whether guilt is established via a plea deal or trial. > And, are these massive backlogs concentrated in certain areas (bigger cities?) or are they pretty evenly dispersed? I can't seem to find any readily available data on that, it's an interesting question. I did read that basically everyone had issues during COVID because courts were closed, and a lot of charges were dropped because they couldn't be handled quickly enough to satisfy the right to a speedy trial. I'd love to see data if anyone knows where to get it online.

dghlsakjg 5y ago

And yet, drug task forces seem to have no problem getting warrants pretty quick to search a car that is stopped. “The system is broke” feels like a poor excuse for arbitrarily handing over all of someone’s data without notification

judge2020 5y ago
> drug task forces seem to have no problem getting warrants pretty quick to search a car that is stopped. Does this happen often? Most stops tell the story of the officer having probable cause for a search, even if that's just the smell of weed or something (not sure if it's still a valid reason).
Larrikin 5y ago
Despite what the Jay-Z song says police don't need a warrant to search your car https://baldanilaw.com/jay-zs-99-problems/ https://baldanilaw.com/jay-zs-99-problems/
- boomboomsubban 5y ago
  The only part that seems to contradict Jay-Z on is his need to leave his car, and adds that the police could "smell marijuana" to get probable cause.

xboxnolifes 5y ago

The legal system has been (claimed to be) backed up since I was born. My question, as someone not familiar, is what are the plans to resolve this perpetual backlog? And, are these massive backlogs concentrated in certain areas (bigger cities?) or are they pretty evenly dispersed?

Spooky23 5y ago
That’s mostly agitation by the bar association looking for more employment with public benefits. There’s always a constraint in resources to take cases to trial - for obvious reasons, they are expensive affairs. A warrant is mostly boilerplate and there’s no shortage of judges to review them.
JumpCrisscross 5y ago
> what are the plans to resolve this perpetual backlog? None. The problem is esoteric. The minority that misunderstands it as a handout to lawyers [1], too vocal. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30874477 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30874477
everforward 5y ago
> My question, as someone not familiar, is what are the plans to resolve this perpetual backlog? Plea deals are the current tool attempting to address that. They take drastically less time and resources. Scholars estimate 90 to 95 percent of cases are resolved via plea deals at this point. It's been going on long enough that I think we've actually adjusted prison sentences to entice it; we have incredibly long prison sentences relative to the rest of the world, to scare people into taking a deal where they serve a more normal numbers of years. It's not unheard of for innocent people to take a plea to serve 30 days in jail instead of risking trial and serving 4 years or something like that. If a majority of defendants actually exercised their right to a trial, our judicial system would fall apart. We don't have nearly enough judges, lawyers, or courthouses for that to happen, and it would start triggering 6th Amendment "right to a speedy trial" issues. I'm of the opinion that the current system of plea deals is unconstitutional, because it establishes a penalty for exercising 6th Amendment rights to a trial. If the plea deal is 60 days in jail, or they're going to go to trial and recommend the maximum, we are coercing people into not exercising their rights. If the court believes that 60 days is a reasonable sentence for the crime, it shouldn't matter whether guilt is established via a plea deal or trial. > And, are these massive backlogs concentrated in certain areas (bigger cities?) or are they pretty evenly dispersed? I can't seem to find any readily available data on that, it's an interesting question. I did read that basically everyone had issues during COVID because courts were closed, and a lot of charges were dropped because they couldn't be handled quickly enough to satisfy the right to a speedy trial. I'd love to see data if anyone knows where to get it online.