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Crunching the numbers

• In the past year, nine of the wealthiest billionaires in the United States increased their combined wealth by more than $360 billion.
• Almost a month into a water outage in Jackson, Mississippi, the city says that all of its customers now have service.
• At least 57 Texans died as a result of last month’s severe winter storm.
• Victim advocates around the country have said domestic violence rose during the pandemic. StateImpact Oklahoma reported that investigators believe more than a dozen killings in Tulsa, Oklahoma City and four other cities were committed by intimate partners and family members since January.

New on Big If True

In our latest in-depth report, Jana Hayes examined how court backlogs are impacting public defender offices, which were strained by high caseloads before the pandemic. Here are the takeaways:

• During the pandemic, many criminal courts closed or suspended jury trials, leading to backlogs that could stick around for years. Defendants who can’t afford bond are spending longer in jail while awaiting trial.
• Some states have put on hold speedy trial rules that ensure trials take place within a certain amount of time. In Kansas, prosecutors are pushing to suspend the state’s speedy trial rules until 2024.
• In some courts, more murder cases are awaiting trial than usual after a national rise in homicides during 2020. In Sedgwick County, Kansas, District Attorney Marc Bennett said about 120 murder trials are pending, up from 40 to 50 during a typical year.
• In Oklahoma, Cleveland County Judge Jeff Virgin said that the court avoided a backlog in the criminal court due to an increase in plea deals. Tim Laughlin, executive director of the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System, said that many courts in the state have pushed for lower bonds and better plea deals during the pandemic.

This report was funded by our readers. If you find value in our journalism, please give what you can or become a monthly donor so we can keep reporting for you.

And new from our podcast: A recent Kaiser Health News investigation found that millions of people with visual impairments have had trouble accessing state and federal covid-19 vaccine sites. We spoke with Lauren Weber, one of the reporters behind the story.

Thank you for reading Hard Reset. You can find me here at bryant@bigiftrue.org and 405-990-0988.
 
– Mollie Bryant
Founder and editor, Big If True