Fishman addresses SC’s chief prosecutors, explains how using data can improve fairness, effectiveness

By KelliI L. Ross

South Carolina’s Circuit Solicitors recently gathered in Charleston for their annual conference. Justice Innovation Lab (JIL) Executive Director Jared Fishman served as a keynote speaker. His presentation, “The Case for Screening,” helped the solicitors—the elected chief prosecutors from each of South Carolina’s 16 judicial districts—understand how using data to make informed decisions can improve effectiveness and fairness in their jurisdictions. 

Fishman prompted them to consider how the time and money on those cases could be better spent by focusing the solicitors on how much time they spend on cases that are dismissed for insufficient evidence.

“No one wants to work on a case that gets dismissed,” he said. “If the case matters, we want to make sure that we can make it. If the case should be dismissed, we don’t want to spend any of our valuable time working on it.”

JIL has been working with the Ninth Circuit Solicitor’s Office (SOL9) in Charleston to identify ways to reduce the impact of disparate arrest rates based on findings in the Disparity and Prosecution in Charleston, SC Report published in September 2021. In July 2022, a follow-up report (The Case for Screening) was released outlining the profound impact case screening can have on case priority and outcomes. 

No matter how equally prosecutors treat people, racial disproportionalities in policing will lead to disproportionalities in who is charged, convicted, and incarcerated, meaning it then falls to the prosecutor to make sure cases are screened to determine if they should move forward, Fishman said.

A case screening process, where charges referred for prosecution receive a preliminary review, can be used to identify cases for quicker disposition and improve outcomes for arrestees, prosecutors, and the local community. Case screening enables prosecutors to quickly dismiss charges that fail to meet evidentiary standards of proof and identify cases that could be better resolved with alternatives to prosecution, such as pretrial diversion.

Timely dismissals reduce the negative impact on arrestees of prolonged disposition times and can improve public safety by allowing prosecutors to prioritize the most serious charges. Case screening is particularly urgent given significant backlogs exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on the current number of cases, and without intervention, it will take an estimated 6 years to clear the current case backlog.

Fishman shared that the historic median time to dispose of a warrant for insufficient evidence, failure to meet elements, and lack of probable cause exceeds 221 days—a little over seven months. A pilot screening process utilized by the SOL9 reduced average time to disposition to 19 days.