What’s What's the behind justice system's the jail role in

1Source: MOCJ analysis of DOC data

What’s behind the jail population increase?

Criminal Justice

December 2020

What's the justice system's role in driving the jail population up?October 2021

Source: MOCJ analysis of DOC data

How we got here

By the time COVID-19 hit New York

City in March 2020, the City's jail

population was less than half what it

was more than six years prior—11,089

on January 1, 2014 to 5,458 on March

16, 2020. In response to the pandemic,

the City engaged its criminal justice

partners to safely and quickly reduce

the jail population to levels not seen

since World War II.

By August 31, 2021, the population

had increased to over 6,000, driven

largely by violent felony detainees.

Among this population, those who

have been detained for a year or more

while awaiting to resolve their case

was the primary driver.

In August 2021, the population was still

46% down from January 2014. Since

then the population has trended

downward.2

City SentencedViolent Felony DetaineeNonviolent Felony Detainee Technical Parole Violator

Other

0

2k

4k

6k

8k

10k

12k

Aug 30, 2021Aug 31, 2020Apr 20, 2020Mar 16, 2020Jan 1, 2014

Misdemeanor Detainee

11089

5458

38244177

6028

3969

3343

995

1600

521

661

2803

729300

553

716357

2509473139127228348

2787550172

96169403

4024

817276238272

401


3

In January 2020, 16% of the jail population was there

for over one year. By September 2021, 29% of the

population was there for more than one year.

From January 2020 to September 2021, the jail

population under one year has decreased by 11%

while the population over one year has increased

by 79%.

City jails are functioning like a prison because of systemic delays, with 30% of people incarcerated being held over 12 months

People charged with felonies make up 99.9% of

pretrial detainees. In New York, a felony is any crime

that carries a potential prison sentence of more than

a year. When these detainees' right to a speedy

resolution of their cases isn't realized, Rikers

functions as a de facto prison.

0

500

1000

1500

2000

Jan 2020

Feb 2020

Mar2020

Apr2020

May2020

Jun2020

Jul2020

Aug2020

Sep2020

Oct2020

Nov2020

Dec2020

Jan 2021

Feb2021

Mar2021

Apr2021

May2021

Jun2021

Jul2021

Aug2021

Sep2021

Number of people in Jail over one year

913

1632

Source: NYS Unified Court System, Division of Technology and the Office of Court Research

Delays in the justice system are driven by fewer felony cases being closed than it indicted

In previous years the justice

system cleared more cases

than were filed, leading to a

decrease in the docket in 2018

(8.1%), 2019 (21.8%) and 2020

(42.2%) through the end of

September of each year.

The trend has reversed so far

this year, with the felony filing

outpacing dispositions by 12%.

4

-2000

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

Docket Increase/DecreaseDispositionFilings

Year to date

2021Year to date

2020Year to date

2019Year to date

2018

Change in Docket by Year

-8.1%Docket

Decrease

-21.8%Docket

Decrease

-42.2%Docket

Decrease

+12.0%Docket

Increase

10827

11708

9421

11471

2623

3731

6527

5745

-881

-2050

-1108

782


Fewer court appearances and fewer trial hearings in felony cases are creating fewer dispositions

While court appearances have

rebounded from the COVID-19

near-shutdown of the justice

system in 2020, they remain

substantially lower than

pre-pandemic levels in 2018

(40.3%) and 2019 (37.9%).

Pretrial hearings in 2021,

meanwhile, are still far below even

the lower levels brought about by

COVID-19 in 2020 (32%), and

significantly below pre-pandemic

levels in 2019 2018 (about 41%.)

5

0

50k

100k

150k

200kCourt appearances

0

200

400

600

800

1000Pretrial hearings

152772

Year to date

2021Year to date

2020Year to date

2019Year to date

2018

Year to date

2021Year to date

2020Year to date

2019Year to date

2018

147009

64858

91231

974 971841

572

Source: DOC data

Court appearances by people in DOC custody have decreased drastically

The impact of COVID-19 led to the near shutdown of court proceedings for months. Yet the number and proportion of defendants held in custody by the City's Department of Correction that are making their scheduled court appearances remains a fraction of the levels seen pre-pandemic.

6

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

AugJulyJunMayAprMarFebJanDecNovOctSeptAugJulyJunMayAprMarFebJanDecNovOctSeptAug

0

1.0%

2.0%

3.0%

4.0%

5.0%

6.0%

7.0%

8.0%

AugJulyJunMayAprMarFebJanDecNovOctSeptAugJulyJunMayAprMarFebJanDecNovOctSeptAug

2019 2020 2021

People in DOC custody produced to Court (Daily)

Percent of People in DOC Custody produced to Court (Daily)

2019 2020 2021

7

Court adjournment in which a

proceeding is postponed to a

future date has increased from

a median of 9 adjournments

per case to 13. The days in

between these adjournments

has also increased. The result

has helped increase the median

case length in August 2021 by

82% compared to August

2019.

With fewer court appearances, more court proceedings are postponed, more days occur between adjournments, and case lengths are longer

Adjournments and case lengths

0

3

6

9

12

15Median number of adjournments

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40Average days between adjournments

0

100

200

300

400

500

600Median case length

Aug 2021Aug 2020Aug 2019

Aug 2021Aug 2020Aug 2019 Aug 2021Aug 2020Aug 2019

9

1213

3236 35

297

429

542


8

Trials starting and ending, either through a plea agree-ment or a verdict, remain far behind pre-pandemic levels.

While please have rebounded from their lows during the worst of the pandemic in 2020, trials beginning or ending following a verdict in 2021 have fallen even further behind the siginificant dropoff experienced in 2020.

With fewer court appearances and trial hearings, we have fewer pleas and trials

0

2k

4k

6k

8k

10k

Trials verdictsTrials commencedPleas

Year to date

2021Year to date

2020Year to date

2019Year to date

2018Year to date

2021Year to date

2020Year to date

2019Year to date

2018Year to date

2021Year to date

2020Year to date

2019Year to date

2018

Felony pleas and trials

9697

8896

3731

5745

589 569 518 51887 45 74 35


9

Even when a case is concluded,

defendants that took pleas or

were convicted continue to too

often remain on Rikers Island

awaiting sentencing by a judge.

The rate in 2021 remains at less

than half the pace of sentencing

prior to the pandemic.

With fewer pleas and trials, more people in Rikers are awaiting sentencing

0

2k

4k

6k

8k

10k

12k

Sentences for felony cases

Year to date

2021Year to date

2020Year to date

2019Year to date

2018

10558

9269

36824108

10

Appendix


11

The court system in New York City has continued to not only lag behind pre-COVID levels, but has struggled to rebound as quickly as courts across the rest of New York State so far in 2021.

Through mid-August, City courts

remain far behind both comparison

points in pleas, verdicts, trials started,

pretrial hearings, and total appearanc-

es through the end of a case.

0

3000

6000

9000

12000

15000

2018Jan-Aug

2018Jan-Aug

2019Jan-Aug

2019Jan-Aug

2021Jan-Aug

2021Jan-Aug

13583 12710 8801 4144 8896 9697

-35.2%-30.8%

NY State ( except NYC )

NYC

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

0

300

600

900

1200

1500

0

20000

40000

60000

80000

100000

2018Jan-Aug

2018Jan-Aug

2019Jan-Aug

2019Jan-Aug

2021Jan-Aug

2021Jan-Aug

2018Jan-Aug

2018Jan-Aug

2019Jan-Aug

2019Jan-Aug

2021Jan-Aug

2021Jan-Aug

2018Jan-Aug

2018Jan-Aug

2019Jan-Aug

2019Jan-Aug

2021Jan-Aug

2021Jan-Aug

2018Jan-Aug

2018Jan-Aug

2019Jan-Aug

2019Jan-Aug

2021Jan-Aug

2021Jan-Aug





NYC NYC

NYC NYC

Pleas Trials Commenced Pretrial Hearings

Appearances throughDispositions

Verdicts

566 514 229 45 569 589

95967 86099 83578 448 426 200

1495 1270 1188

64563 95448 97550 35 518

572 971 974

518

-59.5%-55.4%

-20.5%

-6.5%

-55.4% -53.1%

-12.9% -2.9%

-57.3%-53.4%

-92.1%-92.4%

-41.1% -41.3%

-93.2% -93.2%

-32.4% -33.8%


12

150

200

250

300

Jan 2020

Feb 2020

Mar2020

Apr2020

May2020

Jun2020

Jul2020

Aug2020

Sep2020

Oct2020

Nov2020

Dec2020

Jan 2021

Feb 2021

Mar2021

Apr2021

May2021

Jun2021

Jul2021

Aug2021

COVID-19 slowdowns are resulting in more people being held for longer periods of time�

Despite the rise in bail for violent felony cases, morepeople are making bail or being ROR’d than they werepre-pandemic. In August 2021, 52% of people left jailafter paying bail or being released by the court ontheir current case, and 70% left jail and returned totheir community. Over half of people who left jailspent 30 days or fewer in custody.

However, those who do not make bail are findingthemselves spending longer periods of time in custodythan before COVID-19. Since January 2020, the averagetime people in jail have been detained has risen bynearly 90 days, from 198 days to 287 days.

Average time in custody (days) for people in DOC facilities�

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What’s What's the behind justice system's the jail role in