Justice Delayed is Justice Denied — How to Dispose of Felony

                                Justice Delayed is Justice Denied —

​  How to Dispose of Felony Criminal Cases on an Average of 45 Days                                 

This is a manual — a road map —  for the handling of criminal cases. It is written primarily for judges, prosecutors, and defense counsel. But it is a must-read for anybody involved with the scheduling of criminal cases, and anybody involved with the pre-trial jailing (housing) of those accused of felonies. 

In an era when legislatures are passing laws abolishing cash bail, and putting criminals — often violent criminals and recidivists — back on the street to await trials on their mere written promise to appear for trial, and to not violate any criminal laws while they are on "cashless bail," bringing major criminal cases (felonies) to trial expeditiously and fairly is more important than ever.

I served as Presiding Judge of the Criminal Division of Rock Island County, Illinois,  a mid-sized Illinois county, for 8.5 years of my 26 years on the bench. I set up a system designed to bring all felony cases (including murders) to trial within 60 days. The system worked so well, that my average "time of disposition" (to dismissal, plea of guilty or 1st day of trial) of all cases on my docket was 45 days! I disposed of some 700 — 800 new felony cases a year for 8.5 years.

In this short, readable, 60-page book, I explains the what I did, how I did it, and why I did it. I explain in simple English what a judge must be willing to do to make his system work, and the support he will need from his Chief Judge.

Sincerely,

John Donald O' Shea
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