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October 14, 2024
Noting struggles with case-processing due to prosecutor shortages from coast-to-coast
As the start of this year, Stateline has this article about criminal justice staffing shortages headlined "Shortage of prosecutors, judges leads to widespread court backlogs: The pandemic worsened problems that already had caused state and local court delays." That article focused particularly on developments in Georgia, New York and Vermont, but some more recent press pieces from a number of states showcase that this is a nationwide problem. A brand new piece from Alaska, noted below, led me to notice similar tales from multiple states in press pieces from earlier this year:
From Alaska, "Domestic Violence, Child Abuse and DUI Cases Are Being Dismissed en Masse in Anchorage"
From Arizona, "Attorneys raise concerns over slow moving cases, how Pima County Attorney is addressing shortage of prosecutors"
From Indiana, "Prosecutor says Indiana is facing an attorney shortage"
From Maine, "Staffing shortage blamed for lack of prosecutions of crimes in western Maine"
From Michigan, "New state funding not enough to solve shortage of prosecutors, counties say"
From Nebraska, "Rural NE county attorneys, public defenders confront ‘legal desert’ in hiring new lawyers"
From South Carolina, "Thousands await trial in SC on years-old charges. AG proposes way to clear cases"
I have long surmised that government prosecutors and public defenders generally share the privilege of being underpaid and overworked, while both are absolutely essential to the administration of justice in our legal systems. And I sense these staffing problems are particularly acute in rural areas, especially as new generations of lawyers seem particularly drawn to city life and practice. What this might mean long term for our criminal justice systems merits watching carefully.
October 14, 2024 at 02:00 PM | Permalink
Comments
This problem persists here in Lexington, Kentucky too! There is a recent ad for an Assistant commonwealth's Attorney (prosecutor), but the starting pay is just $55,000 per year and they want 2 to 3 years of prosecutorial experience. This is just not sufficient compensation, compared to what young attorneys in private practice can earn. Starting pay at large law firms (where the attorney will likely work 75 to 85 hours per week) is $120,000 per year. The related issue is that in Kentucky beginning public defenders earn $40,000 per year but beginning Asst. County Attorneys (prosecutors) are paid $46,000 per year. How is criminal justice fair when you prosecutors get paid more money than your defense lawyers?
Posted by: Jim Gormley | Oct 14, 2024 3:15:55 PM
A related issue is that the prosecutors and Judges have not yet dug themselves out of the large backlog of felony trials that accumulated during COVID [from March 2020 thru March 2023. During this period of timem, all trials were cancelled by Order of the Kentucky Supreme Court and most court hearings were conducted via ZOOM, which made it almost impossible for the press to follow important cases. Sometimes, the press and the public would learn many months or a year after the fact that a defendant had pleaded guilty and been sentenced on ZOOM, without anyone else knowing about it. He in Kentucky, the parties and Judges are trying to avoid the investment of the time necessary to prepare and try a felony case by submitting felonies to mediation before a retired Judge, to see if the prosecutors and the defendants cannot come to agree on some plea that will avoid the necessity of holding the trials. Locally, there has been much criticism from victims and the public over serious homicide cases being pled down to manslaughter (with a sentence of 10 to 15 years), just so the Commonwealth's Attorney doesn't have to prepare a case for trial (where the sentence could be life or life without parole).
Posted by: Jim Gormley | Oct 14, 2024 3:26:40 PM
One interesting issue in this mediation and plea process is that while First Degree Manslaughter is viewed as a violent crime, for which the defendant must serve 80% of his sentence before parole consideration, Second Degree Manslaughter is not viewed as a violent crime, so the convicted defendant comes up for parole consideration after serving just 25% of the sentence. The families of many dead victims do not feel like this is real justice, and that it discounts the value of the life of their deceased relative or friend.
Posted by: Jim Gormley | Oct 14, 2024 3:32:05 PM
Jim—Just curious, what is the parole grant rate for the second degree manslaughter cases? Eligibility is not really meaningful if parole is rarely granted. How likely are these killers to actually get out before serving 80% of their sentences?
Posted by: Respondent | Oct 14, 2024 4:19:31 PM
If DV cases are getting dismissed, I could see some good ole boy dads meting out justice.
Posted by: federalist | Oct 15, 2024 9:46:23 AM
A rural desert for attorneys is not a new thing. I remember just after I graduated law school seeing something showing that in West Texas there were multiple counties with only one or two attorneys -- not enough to have a county attorney, a county judge, and still have any attorney left over to handle the rest of legal matters in the county.
Posted by: tmm | Oct 16, 2024 5:33:19 PM
