Refer USA Today 3-21-2020. In the name of social distancing, officials in at least two Oklahoma counties have agreed to suspend warrants for suspects in non-violent crimes, including vehicle thefts.

Authorities in Maine have permanently dropped warrants in more than 12,000 cases involving unpaid fines, restitution and other sanctions. Similarly in Minnesota, officials have halted the suspension of drivers licenses for those who fail to make scheduled court appearances.

In each case, officials said, the decisions were driven by a collective desire to reduce social contact and the risk of spreading the highly contagious coronavirus.

The moves also underscore how the pandemic has seeped into the trenches of the every-day American criminal justice system, where judges, prosecutors, defense lawyers and law enforcement officers are taking increasingly uncommon actions to guard against an unfamiliar adversary.

Locking out the virus:Prisons restrict movements as they try to keep coronavirus out
Nina Ginsberg, president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, has urged government authorities to use discretion in making law enforcement decisions, especially when weighing possible detention of suspects in densely populated local jails, where outbreaks of disease can spread quickly.

“There are clearly steps to be taken across the board,” Ginsberg said Thursday. “This is spiraling so quickly, we really need to see a broader response.”
Ginsberg said lawyers and bar associations should request that judges require local detention officials disclose the steps that they are taking to protect the populations in their custody.

“We should push the government to be more flexible on everything from whether a summons would suffice in lieu of a (arrest) warrant, where the defendant does not pose a clear danger, to whether a voluntary surrender date can be delayed,” she said. “Anybody who doesn’t need to be detained, shouldn’t be. Once the virus gets into one of these jails, I’m afraid there is no way to stop it from spreading.”

Alexander Truluck focuses his practice as a criminal defense attorney in Clearwater, Palm Harbor, Largo, Dunedin and the Tampa Bay area.

For more information, visit our website at http://www.criminallawyerclearwaterflorida.com
or call (727) 799-3550.