San Francisco’s legal logjam - The San Francisco Examiner

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At the start of this year, there were just under 250 people in our county jails whose trial dates had passed, according to the Public Defender’s Office. It’s a legal logjam that grew during the height of the COVID pandemic. But it’s not getting better.

The Sixth Amendment guarantees citizens the right to “a speedy and public trial” without unnecessary delay. Let’s just say our Founding Fathers might be a little disappointed with San Francisco’s court system.

“People are stuck in jail without trial,” Raju told me. “The basically started issuing these orders allowing courts to delay trials. I was continually encouraging the courts that if you delay, if you don’t have a legitimate last day that means something — this system cannot function.” So this is a release decision dependent on available social services for the defendant. The judge wouldn’t let Welch out because he didn’t have residency in San Francisco. Here’s the rub: Welch was registered for Medi-Cal in Alameda County, making him ineligible for services and placement in The City. It was a bureaucratic mess that left this guy in limbo. A very lousy limbo.

Inmates move through the processing center at San Francisco County Jail in 2017. Jessica Christian/The Examiner According to Raju’s office, prior to the pandemic, in 2019, there were 21 courtrooms at the Hall of Justice allocated to criminal matters. Additionally, there are 12 trial courtrooms at the Civic Center Courthouse, bringing the total number of courtrooms that can be used for trials to at least 33. As of this week, there are nine felony jury trials in progress at 850 Bryant and one misdemeanor trial in progress at the Civic Center Courthouse.

Source: Law Daily Report (lawdailyreport.net)

 

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The DA isn't prosecuting fast enough.

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