Sandy Mayson, a professor of law at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, has published a white paper, “Court No-Shows: A Systemic Issue,” which summarizes research presented in “Systemic Failures to Appear in Court,” published in the University of Pennsylvania Law Review and co-authored by Aurélie Ouss, a criminology professor in Penn’s School of Arts & Sciences, and others.
Mayson researches and writes in the fields of criminal law, constitutional law, and legal theory, with a focus on the role of preventive restraint in the criminal legal system. She is a past fellow at the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice.
“It’s not just defendants who fail to appear at required court dates. A police officer, civilian witness, or private attorney fails to appear in court in more than half of Philadelphia’s cases: twice as often as defendants,” the authors write. “Each time an essential party fails to appear, the hearing must be rescheduled, wasting time and money for all involved. Moreover, when witnesses fail to appear, cases are more likely to be dismissed or withdrawn. Our results show that failure-to-appear is a systemic phenomenon, one that is playing a central role in criminal case processing in Philadelphia.”
The paper reveals that an essential police officer, civilian witness or lawyer misses court in 53% of cases. Police officers miss required hearings twice as often as defendants. Victims fail to appear in 70% of domestic violence cases, and court cases are twice as likely to be dismissed if a witness misses court.
Read more at Penn Carey Law.
