December 2020 What's the justice system's role in driving the jail population up? October 2021
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
Source: MOCJ analysis of DOC data
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
Source: NYS Unified Court System, Division of Technology and the Office of Court Research
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
Source: NYS Unified Court System, Division of Technology and the Office of Court Research
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
Source: NYS Unified Court System, Division of Technology and the Office of Court Research
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
Source: NYS Unified Court System, Division of Technology and the Office of Court Research
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
NY State ( except NYC )
NY State ( except NYC )
NY State ( except NYC )
NY State ( except NYC )
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%
Source: MOCJ analysis of DOC data
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�