Court No-Shows: A Systemic Issue

Abstract

This white paper summarizes research presented in Graef et al., Systemic Failures to Appear in Court, 172 U. Penn. L. Rev. 1 (2023). The study shows that it’s not just defendants who fail to appear at required court dates. A police officer, civilian witness, or private attorney fails to appear in court in more than half of Philadelphia’s cases: twice as often as defendants. Each time an essential party fails to appear, the hearing must be rescheduled, wasting time and money for all involved. Moreover, when witnesses fail to appear, cases are more likely to be dismissed or withdrawn. Our results show that failure-to-appear (FTA) is a systemic phenomenon, one that is playing a central role in criminal case processing in Philadelphia.

Keywords: courts no-shows, defendants, police officer, civilian witness, private attorney, Philadelphia, failure-to-appear, FTA, criminal cases, institutional dysfunction, domestic violence