Chaos in Courts: ‘Keep Everyone in Jail and We’ll Sort It Out’

Jose Javier Rivera Bernard faces what’s become a common Covid-19 dilemma in the criminal justice system, as he sits in New York’s coronavirus-stricken Metropolitan Correctional Center, facing federal drug charges with no end to his case in sight.

His lawyer, Mark I. Cohen, thinks he has a winning Fourth Amendment argument that could get the evidence tossed out. But due to pandemic restrictions, Rivera Bernard must either agree to a virtual suppression hearing, where Cohen can’t properly challenge the credibility of government witnesses, or languish in lock-up, as the virus keeps ripping through U.S. prisons and jails.

“Even if ...