Thousands of People in Only One State have Been in Jail for Over a YEAR and Never Proven Guilty

By Jack Burns

 Nearly half a million Americans are currently being held in jail  while they are denied their constitutional rights to a speedy trial. The problem has become so pervasive that many critics of the American  judicial system are up in arms over the phenomenon. In Louisiana alone,  there are over 2,000 people who have been languishing in jail for more  than a year, all waiting for the chance to prove their innocence. 

The Louisiana Sheriff’s Association was forced to clarify just how  bad the problem is after its executive director, Mike Ranatza, overstated the number during a recent testimony on the issue. He clarified by breaking down the total number, and noting that of those 2,181 people:  

• 1,507 had been held between one and two years without a trial
• 448 had been held between two and three years without a trial
• 141 had been held between three and four years without a trial
• 85 people had been held more than four years without a trial.

To many, the number may not seem that large. But to an inmate who may  be innocent, having to sit in jail knowing he is innocent for—at  times—more than four years without a trial, must be maddening. Worse  still, it demonstrates the judicial system’s willingness to allow  someone to be punished before being proven guilty in a court of law. According to a report from Americas Quarterly: 

In most jurisdictions in the Americas, authorities are  required by law to bring an arrested individual before a judicial  officer within 24 to 72 hours of arrest. If the accused is not released  on personal recognizance or cannot afford bail, the individual may spend  months in detention while his or her case is pending.

A defendant’s inability to afford bail becomes, in effect, a prison  sentence. Probably nowhere is the problem more pervasive than in Cook  County, Illinois, where Sheriff Tom Dart presides over the Cook County  Jail facility. Dart recently told  CBS News half of the jail’s nearly 7,500 inmates should not even be in  jail. He said jails have become a dumping ground for the poor, the  mentally ill, and for gang members. 

“I would suggest conservatively that half of the people here in the jail shouldn’t be here.”

Dart said that is a conservative estimate and it could be much  higher. He explained the issue, echoing sentiments by critics of the  current judicial system who say that it is broken and must be fixed. 

They don’t pose a danger to anybody. The people in most  jails—in 95 percent of the people in this jail are waiting on a trial.  So everybody here are people who haven’t been convicted yet. So you say  to yourself, “All right, they’re presumed innocent. Who is so dangerous  that we need to hold them here while we’re waiting on a trial?”

The commonsensical approach to the question is not being answered by  the system. Instead, jails are filling to capacity with people who  presumably know they’re getting a raw deal. Tensions boil over and then  violence erupts within the jails—the effects and consequences of which  result in many inmates and corrections officers being injured on duty.  

In a recent example, seven inmates were killed and 17 injured after fights broke out at the Lee Correctional Institution in Bishopville, South Carolina. Adding insult to injury, when inmates’ cases are finally addressed in  court, the cases are often dropped, dismissed, or plea deals offered  for time served. 

Those who are locked away awaiting trial are considered  jailed under “Pretoria’s detention” status. As Americas Quarterly noted, “In the U.S., which has the largest  pretrial detention population in the world, 20 percent of detainees  eventually had their case dismissed or were acquitted.” 

Unfortunately, being jailed without a speedy trial under pretrial  detention status can be detrimental and damaging to an inmate’s health  and mental well-being. Americas Quarterly described the effects of being  jailed without a speedy trial: 

The loss of liberty and security, and being cut off from  friends and family can result in lasting psychological impact. Further,  exposure to violence among detainees, threats of violence from other  inmates and even guards and direct violence ranging from acts of  humiliation to physical violence or sexual assault also often traumatize  individuals.

Americas Quarterly insists the effects on the individual who has been  jailed without a speedy trial are not limited to physical and emotional  damage, but financial as well. Not only do many, if not most, lose  their jobs while jailed awaiting trial but a cycle of poverty often  results: 

Detention can cause lost wages or loss of employment,  which carries severe collateral consequences for the individual, his or  her family, and society at large. The loss of income and the ability to  support family members or pay for housing may drive some individuals to  criminal activity. It also creates a vicious circle: many of those caught in pretrial  detention are already poor and unable to afford bail, which further  hampers their ability to obtain legal counsel that can help them  negotiate the pitfalls of the judicial system.

In Louisiana, few people in positions of power have a clear solution  of what needs to be done to move the state’s jailed awaiting trial  through the system. NOLA.com reported  that many have expressed outrage but with a broken system, no one seems  to know what to do to expedite an inmate’s constitutional rights to a  speedy trial. According to the report from NOLA.com: 

Rep. Pat Smith, D-Baton Rouge, said holding more than  2,000 people for longer than a year before they get before a judge is  still “unconscionable”…Ranatza said the reasons so many people are being  held for so long without a trial are complicated and based on several  factors. “I would really be remiss in my duties if I said that this was a  very simplistic equation.”… “It’s a classification nightmare for  us…It’s better for us for the individual to move through the system.”

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