I keep hearing about people in jail for 3+ years awaiting trial. If they’re ‘innocent until proven guilty’ I dont understand why they are confined. I thought there was a right to a speedy trial also or is that not really the case?
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Most of those folks are poor and can’t afford bail so sometimes spend more time in jail than they would for the actual offense. It’s a gross violation of constitutional rights, but only happens to poor people so not much gets done about it.
Then you get a few rare cases where the crime is egregious enough that bail is flatly denied but the case is very slow to get to trial (Eg mass shooters) because the prosecutor absolutely does not want to fuck it up on a technicality so spends a lot of effort making sure every i is dotted and T is crossed. In these cases the defense is often also OK with it being slow walked – there’s zero chance of an acquittal and the defense goal is to secure a custodial sentence rather than the death penalty.
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