Judges, prosecutors and prompt jury trials are the remedy for street gang violence
Prosecuting street gang violence is most often very difficult. The members of the gangs perpetrating the violence most often do whatever they can to avoid testifying honestly for the State’s Attorney prosecuting the case. That includes “taking the 5th Amendment,” disappearing to avoid testifying, telling half-truths, and even engaging in perjury. The members of the rival gang often do the same, preferring to rely on street violence and revenge rather than on the Criminal Justice System.
Notwithstanding these obstacles, the only way to break the cycle of gang violence is prompt prosecution. The gang members have to know that it is more dangerous to be caught breaking the law than it is to engage in street gang violence. When a gang member is convicted of murder, the penalty imposed must be near the maximum to make it clear to all gang members that the next killing will merit a similar penalty. The penalty must be sufficient to take the fun out of shooting at opposing gang members on sight.
The Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (Article 6 of our Bill of Rights) provides: “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury …”
The Illinois Legislature, except in cases where the defendant is not fit to stand trial and where the defendant causes the delay, to implement that Sixth Amendment right has provided that where a defendant is in custody, he shall be tried by a court having jurisdiction within 120 days. A defendant who is out on bond and who demands a speedy trial has to be brought to trial within 160 days in the absence of an exception.
The speedy trial rule exists because a defendant awaiting trial in custody is serving the equivalent of prison time before he has been found guilty. Without the rule, a defendant taken into custody could sit in jail indefinitely if the prosecutor indefinitely delays bringing his case to trial.
But the speedy trial rule also exists to require cases to be brought to trial within the stated time limits to afford the victims of crime assurance that the law will deal with the alleged perpetrator of a crime as quickly as the needs of the prosecution and defense permit.
Shortly after I was elected a judge in 1974, I was sent to a “New Judges’ Seminar,” conducted by the Hon. Roy O. Gulley, the Illinois Supreme Court’s administrative director of the Illinois Court System.
Among the things Judge Gulley told us were the following:
1. A judge should not sit on the bench like an “alabaster bust of his grandsire.” A judge is not a mere umpire; he is the governor of the trial. It is his non-delegable duty to see that justice is done.
2. Besides having judicial duties, a judge has administrative duties. Justice delayed is justice denied. The judge must control his own docket; he cannot cede management of his docket to the attorneys, the clerks, or anybody else.
3. When you set discovery dates, pre-trial dates, and plea dates for a Criminal case, set for the “ordinary” Criminal Case. The trial date for an “ordinary” criminal case should be set for no more than 60 days after the defendant’s initial appearance in court. Set the “extraordinary” cases on the same 60-day schedule. If continuances are required, they should always be granted to a day certain. (In running the Criminal Division in Rock Island County, my continuances were always for 14 days, but the attorneys were aware that they could always get one or more additional 14-day continuances for “good cause.” In the 8.5 years that I served as the presiding judge of criminal, I cannot recall ever granting a 3rd continuance — even in a murder case.)
4. Continuances should be granted only for something that was not foreseen when the dates were initially set and only for bona fide cause.
Before I was appointed head of the Criminal Division in Rock Island County, the Illinois Legislature provided that defendants who failed to appear for trial on the date set by the court could be tried in their absence if they were admonished at the time the trial date was set of all the constitutional rights they would be forfeiting if they failed to appear for trial.
In an era when the idiots in the legislature have legislated to eliminate cash bail, trying defendants who have been properly admonished and who fail to appear for trial in absentia strongly deters defendants from jumping non-cash bail. Once "old Gang-bang Charlie" is found guilty in absentia and a warrant is issued for his arrest and confinement pending sentencing, the word will get around the street gang community like wildfire. It takes about two minutes to properly admonish “that you will be tried in your absence if you fail to appear for trial.” It saves the sheriff hours of work tracking down the absconding defendant. And it normally results in a quick, easy trial for the court and the attorneys.
When judges are being paid roughly $200,000 per year, it is not unreasonable for the voters to expect the judges to conduct prompt trials. There is no legitimate excuse, barring the defendant’s unfitness, for even murder cases taking a year for “disposition” — i.e., until plea, dismissal or the first day of trial.
Those that say it can’t be done are too lazy to try. Once the judge makes up his mind to move cases, if the prosecutor cooperates, the average time of disposition should be no more than 90 days.
And if our judges or prosecutors need a seminar, I’ll teach them what Judge Gulley taught me.
Among the things Judge Gulley told us were the following:
1. A judge should not sit on the bench like an “alabaster bust of his grandsire.” A judge is not a mere umpire; he is the governor of the trial. It is his non-delegable duty to see that justice is done.
2. Besides having judicial duties, a judge has administrative duties. Justice delayed is justice denied. The judge must control his own docket; he cannot cede management of his docket to the attorneys, the clerks, or anybody else.
3. When you set discovery dates, pre-trial dates, and plea dates for a Criminal case, set for the “ordinary” Criminal Case. The trial date for an “ordinary” criminal case should be set for no more than 60 days after the defendant’s initial appearance in court. Set the “extraordinary” cases on the same 60-day schedule. If continuances are required, they should always be granted to a day certain. (In running the Criminal Division in Rock Island County, my continuances were always for 14 days, but the attorneys were aware that they could always get one or more additional 14-day continuances for “good cause.” In the 8.5 years that I served as the presiding judge of criminal, I cannot recall ever granting a 3rd continuance — even in a murder case.)
4. Continuances should be granted only for something that was not foreseen when the dates were initially set and only for bona fide cause.
Before I was appointed head of the Criminal Division in Rock Island County, the Illinois Legislature provided that defendants who failed to appear for trial on the date set by the court could be tried in their absence if they were admonished at the time the trial date was set of all the constitutional rights they would be forfeiting if they failed to appear for trial.
In an era when the idiots in the legislature have legislated to eliminate cash bail, trying defendants who have been properly admonished and who fail to appear for trial in absentia strongly deters defendants from jumping non-cash bail. Once "old Gang-bang Charlie" is found guilty in absentia and a warrant is issued for his arrest and confinement pending sentencing, the word will get around the street gang community like wildfire. It takes about two minutes to properly admonish “that you will be tried in your absence if you fail to appear for trial.” It saves the sheriff hours of work tracking down the absconding defendant. And it normally results in a quick, easy trial for the court and the attorneys.
When judges are being paid roughly $200,000 per year, it is not unreasonable for the voters to expect the judges to conduct prompt trials. There is no legitimate excuse, barring the defendant’s unfitness, for even murder cases taking a year for “disposition” — i.e., until plea, dismissal or the first day of trial.
Those that say it can’t be done are too lazy to try. Once the judge makes up his mind to move cases, if the prosecutor cooperates, the average time of disposition should be no more than 90 days.
And if our judges or prosecutors need a seminar, I’ll teach them what Judge Gulley taught me.
First Published in the Moline Dispatch and Rock Island Argus on June 18, 2023.
Copyright 2023, John Donald O'Shea
Copyright 2023, John Donald O'Shea
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