Recommendations — Causes of Excessive Caseloads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Misdemeanor Defense in Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Meet and Plead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Denial of Bond/Inability to Make Bail and the Pressure to Plead . . . . . . . 32 Prosecutorial Pressure to Plead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Impact of Increased Collateral Consequences on Misdemeanor Caseloads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Early Disposition Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Effect of Excessive Caseloads on the Clients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Recommendations — Misdemeanor Defense in Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Misdemeanor Defenders Lack Access to Support Services . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Recommendations — Lack of Support Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Inexperienced Counsel in Misdemeanor Courts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Lack of Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Lack of Supervision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Recommendations — Inexperienced Counsel in Misdemeanor Courts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Lack of Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Recommendations — Lack of Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Inadequate Compensation for Defenders in Misdemeanor Courts . . . . . . 42 Recommendation — Inadequate Compensation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Judicial Conduct in Misdemeanor Courtrooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Disparate Treatment of Indigent Defendants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Judges Face Discipline for Not Honoring Right to Counsel . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Recommendations — Judicial Conduct in Misdemeanor Cases . . . . . . . . 45 Lawyer Burnout in Misdemeanor Courts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Recommendation — Lawyer Burnout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Disproportionate Effect on Minority Communities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Recommendations — Disproportionate Impact on Minority Communities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
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CONCLUSION ..................................48
Table of Contents
The Terrible Toll of America’s Broken Misdemeanor Courts
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