Will the federal government shutdown affect criminals?

The federal shutdown has been on-going for longer than many thought or could have anticipated.

At this point, I venture to say that it has become frustrating to even those souls who claimed they did not care. We have heard of various federal offices closing their doors and that thousands of federal workers have received their last paycheck until the politicians reach a consensus.

What I never thought of, even though I am a practicing attorney, was that the federal courts, and all that goes with that, are part of that shutdown.

According to Gillian Flaccus:

The government shutdown is slowing the wheels of justice in federal courts by delaying civil cases, forcing prosecutors to operate with skeleton staffs and raising uncertainty about the system’s immediate future if the stalemate continues past Thursday.

Apparently the reserve funds the federal courts have been operating under since Oct. 1 could run out this week. Now, before you start to panic, let me assure you that criminals will not be set loose. The federal prisons will not be shut down. Federal cases, on the other, hand might soon be experiencing a slow down.

There is always a priority to everything. An example of this is the fact our troops are continuing to collect their paychecks when other federal employees are not. Under the Constitution, criminal defendants have the right to a fair and speedy trial which means their cases cannot be put on hold because, if time runs out, the cases have to be dismissed.

Bankruptcy cases are likely to stay on track as well. However, general civil cases and immigration cases run the greatest risk of being put on hold.

When these cases are put on hold so are the lives of those people involved in the cases. These include those persons waiting on money from insurance companies to help rebuild their homes that burned down accidentally or those that need money owed to them for back pay or those high school students waiting to go to college because they do not have a green card yet.

Another group that will suffer will be jurors. Since criminal cases will continue, the jurors will still be needed. However, funds to reimburse the jurors will run out.

And let’s not forget the public defenders and the prosecutors. The money for them will also run out, yet these individuals will be expected to continue to work.

Every hour of every day we hear about the federal government shutdown but we do not hear about all the ramifications. The repercussions are many and will be felt for a significant amount of time, regardless of when the shutdown is over.

My question to the politicians is this: You claim you are doing this to better our country. However, do you really believe that those who are suffering because of your inaction believe you are “bettering” our country? I think not.