COVID-19 and the Criminal Justice System
I'm a retired criminal defense attorney and have been pondering the impact of COVID-19 on the court system. What a nightmare this poses:
Presumed innocent people arrested and held in custody unable to make bail
Being incarcerated and unable to isolate
Speedy trial rights being suspended
Unavailability or limited access to witnesses deemed necessary for trial preparation
These are things off the top of my head, but I could spend hours thinking of things impacted. How is your community dealing with this issue?
One interesting thing I read was that the Feds are desiring an increase in statute of limitations for criminal cases. I'm sure they'll ask that it not apply to Trump and his criminal cabal.
A brief article from the ABA
https://www.abajournal.com/web/article/pandemic-upends-criminal-justice-system