NCJ Number
134609
Date Published
1991
Length
99 pages
Annotation
Approximately 500 civil cases and 500 felony cases disposed during 1987 in 39 urban trial courts were randomly sampled and analyzed with regard to the pace of litigation; percentiles were the primary statistic used in this report to describe overall case processing times within individual courts.
Abstract
The findings, regarding the pace of felony case litigation, indicated that most courts disposed of 90 percent of their cases within 1 year of arrest, but no court was in full compliance with American Bar Association disposition time standards. Larger pending caseload per judge was a strong correlate of longer felony case processing times, while a lower percentage of violent crimes, early resolution of pretrial motions, and a higher percentage of firm trial dates were predictors of shorter processing times. Drug-related caseloads exacerbated delay in felony case processing for some courts included in this study. In terms of the pace of civil case litigation, the study found that 28 of the courts had 10 percent or more of their cases over 2 years old at disposition. Larger pending civil caseloads per judge were found in more populous urban areas and were the strongest correlate of longer civil case processing times. About 39 percent of all civil cases were disposed without an answer filed by the defendant, significantly reducing the amount of judge time required. The authors maintain that effective case management is important in reducing case processing times. Where comprehensive delay reductions programs were implemented, courts significantly improved their pace of litigation. 21 tables, 17 figures, and 15 appendixes