Small Crimes Are Clogging our Courts

A flood of misdemeanor charges is taxing our criminal justice system, wasting millions of taxpayer dollars and eroding the constitutional rights of defendants, according to a new report from the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. The report, released this week, calls for states to reconsider penalties and incarceration for minor crimes like loitering, driving with a suspended license, dog leash violations and open containers of alcohol.

From the report:

"Every year literally millions of accused misdemeanants, overwhelmingly those unable to hire private counsel, and disproportionately people of color, are denied their constitutional right to equal justice. And, taxpayers are footing the bill for these gross inefficiencies."

I spend a lot of time on this blog focused on alternatives to incarceration for drug offenses and I've been largely quiet on other non-violent crimes. These fall into a similar category, but are even less taxing on society than drug offenses and thus should be lower-hanging fruit. Our court system, however, is stubborn. The players with power are interested in keeping their jobs just like they are and politicians are afraid of being "soft of crime" - even when that crime is a dog off a leash.

These myriad misdemeanors sinking our system are not evenly applied. Loitering, trespassing and open container laws disproportionately affect the poor and people of color. A black man in an urban housing project is far more likely to pick up an arrest for a minor crime like this because police are more present in inner-cities and may use a minor infraction like a dog off the leash to engage in (intentional or unintentional) racial and geographic profiling. You don't see many trespassing arrests in the suburbs.

The NACDL report outlines the effects of this overreaching misdemeanor system, including an overburdened indigent defense system, rights eroded as defendants are pressured to plead guilty without a lawyer to keep the system moving along and prison budgets skyrocketing through short stints from minor crimes. NACDL President John Wesley Hall says it well:

“Misdemeanor court is a black hole for justice and resources,” he said. “I don’t think there is a bigger waste of human potential and taxpayer money in the entire criminal justice system. Across the country, states need to implement more efficient enforcement policies for petty infractions – policies that ‘pay off,’ instead of ‘adding up.’”

NACDL points to counties and courts that provide alternatives to incarceration and conviction for nonviolent minor crimes. If you're caught driving with a suspended license in King County, Washington, for example, you can perform community service to work off any fines and avoid a conviction. The program has alleviated a clogged system and actually generated net revenue. If someone is caught a second or third time with a suspended license, then they enter the court system.

Alternatives to incarceration make a lot of sense for nonviolent misdemeanor offenses, and even politicians and the public can't be too unhappy when they learn about the cost savings. It's time to give these ideas a try.