The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

Misdemeanors—infractions such as curfew violations, loitering and open container laws—lead to expensive prosecutions on the taxpayers’ dime. The volume of cases is staggering. A median state misdemeanor rate of 3,544 cases per 100,000 citizens indicates that taxpayers are burdened with paying the costs of more than 10 million misdemeanor prosecutions per year, the report said.

With courts this clogged, public defenders and probation officers are forced to handle hundreds more cases than they can ethically manage, spending just minutes preparing for each case. And some defendants are completely deprived of their constitutional right to counsel, putting states at risk for expensive lawsuits on top of the heavy financial burden of unnecessary incarceration costs.

Research and drafting of the report was a collaborative effort between NACDL and Professor Robert C. Boruchowitz of the Seattle University School of Law. In addition to compiling of misdemeanor courts in a number of jurisdictions, NACDL conducted interviews with key criminal justice personnel in misdemeanor courts across the country, including judges, defense counsel, prosecutors and accused. Where possible, NACDL site teams also gathered data on misdemeanor prosecutions, public defender caseloads, and other relevant statistics. The authors also conducted a national survey of defense lawyers seeking information on misdemeanor practices in respondents’ jurisdictions. In 2008, NACDL held misdemeanor practice conferences in New York and Seattle with over 150 public defenders, prosecutors, judges and policy persons in attendance.