Courts Still Struggling With Effects of Pandemic

Milwaukee County Courthouse. Photo by Graham Kilmer.

During a recent meeting of the Milwaukee County Board’s Finance Committee, two of the top officials in the local criminal justice system discussed some of the challenges it faces, much of which began with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

District Attorney John Chisholm discussed with supervisors some of the lingering challenges, and advances made, relative to a third-party analysis of the county’s justice system conducted by the Wisconsin Policy Forum. He was also joined by Chief Judge Carl Ashley in highlighting how the Milwaukee County Sheriff‘s Office’s staffing challenges impact the rest of the justice system.

Criminal Case Backlog

The district attorney’s office has cleared the backlog of misdemeanor cases, said Chisholm, but his office continues to work through a backlog of felony cases.

“I think the homicide unit is done anywhere from 45 to 60 jury trials already this year,” Chisholm said. “The Violent Crimes Unit has done anywhere from 70 to 90 jury trials this year.”

When the backlog was at its “high water mark,” the office used federal stimulus funding to hire 14 new assistant district attorneys (ADA), Chisholm said.

ADA Turnover

The high turnover rates for public defenders and ADAs have been a challenge in recent years.

“The biggest challenge for my office was from the state, quite frankly, and that was the long-standing, and just gross negligence, in terms of adequate compensation for Assistant DAs,” Chisholm said.

The most recent state biennial budget included pay increases for both ADAs and public defenders. Chisholm said the pay increase “gives me hope for the first time” that his office will be able to address employee turnover.

Homicides, Domestic Violence

Homicides are down from the levels of the previous three years. Beginning in 2020, homicides were increasing year over year in Milwaukee. In 2022, there were 227.

“But let me make perfectly clear that our challenge is not over,” Chisholm said, noting that there have still been more than 700 non-fatal shootings.

When COVID-19 hit there was a significant downturn in the number of charges referred to the DAs office, Chisholm noted, including domestic violence. “There’s just no question that one of the most significant increases in homicides in the last three years have been in the context of domestic violence,” he said.

The pandemic shutdown and restricted access to facilities like the Sojourner Family Peace Center, Chisholm noted, that provide prevention services designed to protect female victims and their children. These facilities have reopened and the system is working hard to reverse the trend on the issue, the district attorney said.

Deputy, Correction Officer Understaffing

Chisholm noted that understaffing in the sheriff’s office for both corrections officers and sheriff’s deputies creates delays in the processing of cases that lead to longer times in custody for defendants.

“The importance of safely detaining individuals accused of crimes can’t be overstated,” Chisholm said, “and the only way you can do that is if you have experienced and committed correctional officers.”

For that reason, the district attorney told supervisors that he strongly supports “incentivizing long-term career professionals in the correctional services, both in the jail and at the House of Correction.”

Ashley also weighed in on short-staffing in the MCSO.  “We suffer greatly when they are understaffed,”said the chief judge. “That impacts our ability to hold hearings.”

MCSO deputies provide security in the courts as bailiffs, but are still subject to mandatory overtime working on the county’s expressways or in the parks.

“It’s not fair to the bailiff, it’s not fair to the staff or the community, for [a bailiff] to work two shifts, late at night, and then come here and sit in the courtroom where [they’re] supposed to be part of the security for the courtroom,” Ashley said.