Description

This presentation looks at four new challenges facing prosecutors and the criminal justice system today: the impact of COVID-19 on the court system, a nationwide increase in homicides across urban areas, difficulties in recruiting police officers, and the need for alternatives to incarceration. We first discuss how COVID-19 created a substantial case backlog in the court system when criminal jury trials were suspended and explore how conducting jury trials while wearing masks and socially distancing presents unique constitutional and logistical issues. Second, we discuss the troubling nationwide increase in homicides, which has been observed across a wide range of geographic areas and has also affected Montgomery County. Third, we discuss new challenges in police recruiting, with a focus on the difficulties of recruiting a police force that looks like the community that it serves. Finally, we address the challenge of finding alternatives to incarceration, and discuss how the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office has reduced the need for incarceration through new alternatives to prosecution (such as mental health court) and community programs (like the Truancy Prevention Program).