Improving the Analysis and Presentation of Data on Case Processing Time

Abstract

Delay is one of the most pressing problems facing the American judicial system. Several prestigious national commissions have identified delay as a critical problem.' In addition to the constitutional guarantee of a speedy trial,2 federal and state legislatures have passed speedy-trial bills mandating that criminal defendants be processed within a set period of time.3 Advocates of judicial reform point to burdensome caseloads and excessive delay as direct or indirect rationales for their proposals.4 The general public is similarly dissatisfied with slow and inefficient justice. Over fifty percent of the respondents in a survey conducted by the Yankelovich, Skelly, and White polling organization rated the efficiency of the courts as a or very serious social problem.5 Dissatisfaction and complaints, however, have far surpassed systematic