widely spread Reports paint a mostly rosy picture of a decline in violence nationwide Crime has also reached pre-pandemic levels. However, the impact of many policy reforms since 2020 has not only masked rising crime rates, but also reduced the ability of the criminal justice system to provide justice to victims.
A good example of this mechanism of change is New York State's 2020 “discovery reform” bill, which will force prosecutors to reallocate their time to the devastating burden of evidence gathering. The state's 62 district attorneys' offices are now required to collect material on every case that has little to do with guilt, fairness or justice.And anew Public data See how this overwhelming compliance obligation hinders prosecutors from performing their duties.
The findings are clear. More than a quarter of all cases that passed through Manhattan criminal courts in the first 11 months of 2023 were automatically dismissed because overburdened prosecutors ran out of time to pursue the cases. . A total of approximately 8,000 cases will be automatically dismissed in 2023, a significant increase from just 3% in 2019.
These cases are not easy. These include felonies that have not yet been charged, as well as felonies such as assault on a stranger, most domestic violence crimes, and forcible touching on the subway. In fact, reformers have undermined the entire justice system by keeping prosecutors busy gathering evidence for its own sake rather than achieving a more just outcome.
Additionally, the number of felony arrests in Manhattan that were downgraded to misdemeanors in 2023 was at a record high due to prosecutorial triage brought about by discovery reform. In 2019, prosecutors 39% downgrade Arrests ranging from felonies to misdemeanors. Last year it was 54%.And about felonies property Crime rate almost doubles from 2019's 24%, hitting record high 46% property crime Last year, the felony was downgraded to a misdemeanor.
The alarming frequency of case dismissals and downgrades only tells half the story. Equally alarming is the army of busy Assistant District Attorneys (ADAs) who are refusing to prosecute cases at a record pace.
For example, in Manhattan 91% increase Felony cases decreased last year compared to 2019. Although this does not affect the most heinous crimes such as murder, the ADA declined to prosecute twice as many thefts and 243% more robberies in 2023 than before the discovery reform. His refusal to use a weapon increased by 189% and resisting arrest by 706%.
In other words, prosecutors are fundamentally changing how they allocate their time, and this is impacting public safety.
Imagine a persistent shoplifter. He raids stores daily to support his drug addiction. Police used surveillance footage to link the perpetrator to 10 recent incidents and arrested him. They charged him with one count of robbery, four counts of grand larceny, and five counts of petty larceny.
But here's the change: to prosecute all In these cases, discovery laws allow the ADA to collect and defend all evidence, no matter how frivolous, against any charges, from redundant surveillance video to unseen witness statements. It is meant to be shared with others. So time-strapped prosecutors chose to indict the thief on only three counts of grand larceny and not the rest.
Is this all? of course not. It also leads to an increase in crime. There have been no follow-up investigations of the seven stores whose complaints were rejected, so the owners assume no arrests or prosecutions will result from the complaints. Employees now have even less incentive to report future theft. Similarly, police morale is diminished by making arrests that ultimately serve no purpose.
Additionally, the seven dismissed cases are not included in the statewide Office of Court Administration records, which only tally charged crimes. Therefore, the data will depict fewer crimes than actually occur, resulting in a distorted narrative of public safety. Worse, criminals are incentivized to continue stealing, and justice becomes more arbitrary based on which ADA has the bandwidth.
For many repeat offenders, the ultimate destination remains incarceration. But the process of getting them there is currently laborious and more dangerous.A little strange 61% of New Yorkers People fear becoming victims of crime, even though murders and shootings are on the decline.
The 2023 data shockingly highlights the damage that occurs when prosecutors are forced to prioritize non-justice-related tasks over justice-related tasks. New York should amend its discovery laws to require only the collection of substantive evidence before proceeding with a lawsuit.
And nationally, we need to embrace more nuanced policy-making, recognizing that the criminal justice system is complex and that police and prosecutors' time needs to be prioritized over pursuing actual safety measures.
Hannah E. Myers is a Manhattan Institute Fellow and Director of Police and Public Safety.
