open warrants... across the country

 

This was in the local rag on the 13th. Reporters from the area did a good look at the problem in our court system that encourages defendants to skip court appearances. It's a nationwide problem and the piece does do justice to places around the country. But IMO, they missed the bigger story by not sounding the alarm over the fact that when asked by this group of reporters, Massachusetts failed to give these reporters any usable information. From the reporters charts and number crunching, there are 390 thousand open warrants in Massachusetts. And you can bet your last dollar, one or more of that number, are violent offenders waiting to make the news. It might be time to gps every person who is required to come back to court and remove only when the case is done. The paper devoted a page and half to this subject which is relevant to our community.

Daphne Chen

By Doug Caruso

By Eli Sherman
Wicked Local

By John Futty

By Mike Wagner 

Posted Jan 14, 2019 at 1:09 PM Updated Jan 14, 2019 at 3:45 PM

(Editor’s Note: This is the first of a two-part series.)

Millions of Americans are wanted on criminal arrest warrants, including hundreds of thousands accused of murder, rape, robbery or assault, while victims wait for justice.

In Massachusetts, there are more than 390,000 open warrants.

Many cases stay open for years, even decades, often forgotten as law enforcers and judges struggle to keep up with new warrants filed in courthouses across the nation each day.

An investigation by Wicked Local, GateHouse Media, and The Columbus Dispatch found more than 5.7 million cases in 27 states with open arrest warrants — enough to lock up 83.1 percent of all Massachusetts residents. Reporters sought records from all 50 states, but 23 did not provide usable data. Among those warrants, reporters identified nearly 240,000 cases involving violence, a weapon or sexual misconduct, enough to fill every state prison cell in Texas, Michigan and Virginia.

“Most jurisdictions around the nation are doing nothing with warrants like this. Nothing,” said David Kennedy, professor of criminal justice at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City and director of the college’s National Network for Safe Communities.

Warrants pile up.

As of Aug. 20, 2018 open warrants in Massachusetts accumulated to 390,383, dating back to 1970, according to data compiled by the Massachusetts Executive Office of the Trial Court.

The data was provided in response to a public records request by Wicked Local.

“As warrants are issued, the majority are closed, but a number remain open for various reasons, such as individuals are in jail, have not been apprehended, have been deported, have moved out of state, or are currently incarcerated out of state,” wrote Court Administrator Jonathan S. Williams in a response to the records request.

Citing undue burden or expense, Massachusetts would not break down the warrants by original offense, or provide any biographic information about the accused. Without the charges, it’s impossible to separate which Massachusetts warrants are related to violent charges.

Interviews with judges, attorneys and law enforcement officials from across Massachusetts, show a large portion of the unserved warrants stem from minor offenses, such as not paying a parking ticket. Warrants cross socioeconomic levels, but disproportionately affect poorer communities and racial and ethnic minorities.

“Open warrants have been a problem in the Massachusetts court system for decades,” explained retired Judge Raymond G. Dougan, who served as an associate justice at Boston Municipal Court from 1991 to 2014.