Pandemic caused havoc in courts, but might lead to improvements, too
Backlog could take years, but technology will help
Bridget Krause was used to spending most of her days in court, meeting with clients or talking over cases with other public defenders.
Then it all changed overnight.
The pandemic struck, forcing the state’s criminal justice system to suddenly adapt to a new reality.
The work didn’t stop, but it was immediately different: Hearings were held remotely or delayed and reaching clients — especially those in jail or prison — became much more difficult.
“It was surreal, honestly,” said Krause, who was working as a staff attorney for the Wisconsin State Public Defender’s Office in Milwaukee at the time.
A year later, many courts have opened to some degree with precautions in place, but after slowing down for months, there is still a backlog of cases lingering in the system, all waiting for a resolution.
In Milwaukee County, which has 47 branches of circuit court, that could take until 2023, said Chief Judge
Mary Triggiano, despite a steady return to pre-COVID conditions. After a tentative start in July, there are now seven courtrooms set up for jury trials — some at the former Zoofari Conference Center — and 13 for non-jury trials. Four more are scheduled to open in May.
As judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys decide how to move forward, a lasting consequence of the pandemic may be shifting attitudes toward technology and whether the system can find ways to make life easier for all involved.
Triggiano said Milwaukee County will soon try conducting a trial with the parties and court officials in one courtroom and socially distanced jurors watching live on individual screens in a different room.
But at the moment, complications remain.
Krause, who has since been promoted to deputy trial division director, has clients in custody who can’t get a hearing to resolve their cases. Others aren’t in custody but have lived under bail conditions for longer than usual and still can’t get their day in court.
“It’s hard to have a speedy trial when you don’t have any trials,” she said.
A pending case can make it difficult to find a job, Krause said, and even people with jobs still have family lives affected by the pandemic, too.
“It has taken an emotional toll on everyone,” she said.
Outagamie County began to hold trials in July, then was forced to pause them in November when cases of COVID-19 spiked in the region. Trials started again in February, but it still isn’t like before — with limited space, only a single jury can be picked at a time, making it difficult for the seven judges in the county to coordinate with each other.
“It’s like a Tetris game,” Outagamie County Judge Carrie Schneider said. “It’s like constantly moving the pieces to see where they’re going to fit next.”
Some cases that don’t have strict time limits, such as lawsuits or traffic violations, have been delayed so other cases, such as criminal cases with people in custody, can get priority, Schneider
“Now, most of the people in the system are aware of how to use technology and are comfortable with it.” ... “It took a pandemic to make us stop and rethink some of what we do, how we do it and why we do it.”
Christian Gossett Winnebago County District Attorney
said.
But if you talk to anyone involved in a pending case, Schneider said, they’re anxious about when it will be resolved.
“If you’re a victim in a case, you want that case done,” she said. “You want some resolution. You want some closure.”
Technology changes could improve justice system
The problems caused by the pandemic have been considerable, but Winnebago County District Attorney Christian Gossett hopes the lessons learned by the court system don’t disappear when things return to normal.
“Now, most of the people in the system are aware of how to use technology and are comfortable with it,” he said.
The pandemic forced the system to look at the impact it has on people’s lives, including how convenient — or inconvenient — it is for people to participate in it, Gossett said.
The changes, particularly a willingness to hold hearings remotely by taking advantage of technology, will help people save time and money when they have to interact with the criminal justice system, Gossett said.
“It took a pandemic to make us stop and rethink some of what we do, how we do it and why we do it,” he said.
The risks associated with being in jail during the pandemic led judges to let more people with pending cases remain out of custody, Krause said. It’s a trend she hopes continues after the pandemic.
There will always be people who violate conditions of bail, but it is far from the majority of people, Krause said.
“I hope we take that trust we’ve had and we renew it after the pandemic,” she said. “I think in most cases it has worked.”
The number of people in jail fell as the pandemic hit the state last year. The average daily population of the state’s county jails fell to 8,338 by April 2020, a 35% decline from April 2019, according to a Wisconsin Policy Forum report.
In Milwaukee County, about 1,800 people were in the jail and the House of Correction on a typical day before the pandemic, and the number dropped to around 1,300 a year ago. On Tuesday, the seven-day average was 1,537.
The ability to appear by video, especially for relatively minor hearings, seems to have improved attendance by making it easier and faster for people to show up, Krause said.
“Those life challenges were not getting in the way of them appearing in court,” she said.
Certain hearings don’t work as well remotely, Krause said. It’s harder to manage evidence or coordinate with witnesses and it’s not as easy to tell if people are reading from their notes or being told what to say.
But for the more mundane hearings, Krause said, remote hearings could make life easier for people caught up in the system.
“We could really disrupt lives less,” she said.
Most judges agree some level of Zoom use will become part of the new normal.
Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Jean Kies sees at least three obvious benefits. First, Zoom hearings allowed the court system to vastly reduce the human footprint in the court buildings while maintaining some level of court operations.
Second, many people who might not otherwise be able to come to court — several judges mentioned family and supporters of victims and defendants for sentencings — can attend via Zoom.
“And I think some individuals have felt more safe and secure at their home, and that has made them more candid than I think they’d be sitting in court,” Kies said.