SEATTLE Treating petty, nonviolent misdemeanors as infractions rather than crimes would save millions of dollars and better protect defendants' rights without hurting public safety, according to a study commissioned by criminal defense attorneys.
That is the top recommendation in "Minor Crimes, Massive Waste: The Terrible Toll of America's Misdemeanor Courts," a report released Tuesday by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
Researchers with the Defender Initiative at the Seattle University School of Law reviewed statistics and visited misdemeanor courts in Arizona, Florida, Illinois, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington state.
They reported that cases per public defender ranged from 360 a year in Benton County, Wash., and 380 in Seattle, both set limits, to 2,403 in Chicago, 2,502 in Utah and 18,720 in New Orleans.
The National Advisory Committee on Criminal Justice recommends a maximum of 400 cases a year per defender.
John Wesley Hall Jr., a lawyer from Little Rock, Ark., and president of the association, said he looked forward to presenting the findings to the House Judiciary Committee in a congressional hearing June 4.
"Misdemeanor court is a black hole for justice and resources," Hall told reporters. "I don't think there is a bigger waste of human potential and taxpayer money in the entire criminal justice system."
Because of state-to-state differences, the precise number of misdemeanor cases nationwide is unknown.
Based on an estimated 12-state median misdemeanor rate of 3,544 per 100,000 residents by the National Center for State Courts in 2006, misdemeanor prosecutions more than doubled from 5 million in 1972 to 10.5 million in 2006.
Law professor and chief researcher Robert C. Boruchowitz said uncounted millions of dollars were wasted in criminal prosecution for such offenses as feeding the homeless in parks, jumping turnstiles at subway stations or sleeping in a cardboard boxes.
Boruchowitz, who once ran a public defender office, said prosecutors, defense lawyers and judges could accomplish most of the needed changes by exercising prerogatives in their official positions without regulatory or statutory change.
"I think education is a big part of it," he told reporters. "I think most lawyers and judges don't understand what's going on in these courts."
___
On the Net:
NACDL report:http://www.nacdl.org/misdemeanor