Galesburg Reporter

Illinois courts are dealing with a reckoning from the COVID-19 shutdown: overloaded dockets with cases that have accumulated since March.

It’s so bad the Illinois Supreme Court suspended the speedy-trial rules, but that decision has created another legal action as two attorneys argued that violates their clients’ due process rights, The Center Square reported. They are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case.

Part of the problem is that many courthouses were closed for months due to the pandemic, creating a backlog of cases. As courts slowly reopen, officials are trying to make sure courthouses aren’t too crowded as the pandemic lingers. Thus, courts are trying to deal with a growing backlog at diminished capacity while new cases keep coming in daily.

Instead of hundreds of people in the Rock Island County courthouse for misdemeanor and traffic court, officials allow only 40 at a time, with 10 cases an hour.

One solution is to settle the less-serious cases, such as traffic cases, without bringing people to the courthouse.

“We started a new call-in and email program for traffic citations, so even if it is a 'must appear,' we can take care of their court appearance without them physically coming into the building,” DeKalb County State’s Attorney Rick Amato said.

Amato said the system is working, but describes it as a “work in progress.”

On the criminal side of things, felony cases are getting priority as misdemeanors are still being postponed.

“Normally where there could be four trials going at a time or sometimes more, realistically if there is a backup judge available, we can only do two at this time,” Illinois public defender Jennifer Goudreau said. She said the pace of criminal court cases has slowed to a crawl.