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EXPERT OPINIONS JUNE 22, 2020 ¦ 41

Second, in a post-pandemic world, this is dan- • The unwavering belief that police officers are
gerous. Many courthouses in the state are small, telling the truth, resulting in an embarrassing
with lobbies that squeeze dozens of people to- imbalance of denied suppression motions, rub-
gether in confined spaces. Lawyers talk with other ber-stamped arrest and search warrants, upheld
lawyers, then with clients, then with staff and court probable cause determinations and unfair case
personnel while handling physical documents and valuation. (Why, in the age of Breonna Taylor, do
touching doors, railings and other surfaces, in- we default to police telling the truth?)
creasing the likelihood of exchanging germs and • The so-very-strange “24-hour notice” rule,
for everyone to become sick by simply being in a preventing criminal trials from being scheduled
courthouse. on a certain date, which requires defendants and
Finally, and most importantly, the system is their counsel to drop everything and be ready
unduly burdensome for the criminally accused. for court at a moment’s notice, unlike civil trial
Every court appearance is another request for practice where lawyers and litigants can prepare
time off from work, to arrange for child care or accordingly for their day in court.
to find someone to help with transportation. Un- • The broken bail system, which, notwith-
fortunately, most criminal defendants are people standing progress in recent years, still retains the
of color who face serious socioeconomic chal- antiquated practice of holding the criminally ac-
lenges. This onerous obligation only causes more cused in custody, despite their presumption of
frustration for the people we serve in an already innocence, unless that accused person can afford
frustrating court process. It feels like punishment to pay money in exchange for his or her physical
without a conviction. freedom.
Prosecutors, judges, public defenders, court staff • The document filing system, in the age of pizza
and private counsel consider the courthouse to be delivery by drone, wherein fax machines are the
either a main or satellite office. To each defendant, exclusive method for court filings. In fact, the
however, every court date is another need to pause technological shortcomings of the Connecticut
everything else in their lives and deal with the criminal court system could be the subject of a
seemingly ill-advised decision to maintain their considerable literary project.
claim of innocence or, at least, to exercise their • The shameful way the pandemic was handled.
constitutionally guaranteed right to a defense. An investigative task force to review the ad-
Given this phenomenon, it’s not surprising that the ministration of the last three months should be
National Registry of Exonerations concludes that assembled.
15% of all individuals exonerated post-conviction Look, I do not share the belief the courts should
were convicted because they chose to plead guilty have remained open no matter what the scien-
instead of going to trial. Some defendants just get tific professionals warned. I also understand the
tired. They give up. reliable fallback position offered by the Judicial
Branch (“We could not have prepared for some-
To be clear, I write this opinion only to ad- thing like a global pandemic”). Got it. However,
dresses the archaic and unnecessary expectation what this pandemic revealed was that there was no
that criminal defendants appear at every single preparation at all. The Judicial Branch was caught
scheduled court date. The criminal justice system completely flat-footed and exploited by the pan-
in Connecticut has several other issues that can demic for having zero contingency plans in place.
be improved, among which include the following: Despite the efforts of phenomenal judges such
• Systemic overcharging of crimes for the pur- as Judges Joan Alexander and Frank Iannotti,
pose of exploiting the imbalance of power during who did their very best to manage criminal court
plea bargaining, resulting in forced guilty pleas.
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