Coronavirus Containment Collides With U.S. Constitutional Rights

People presumed innocent sit locked up in disease-prone jails with no idea when their trials will take place, not when court houses are closed and juries can’t be seated for fear of spreading the coronavirus.

The Sixth Amendment, with its speedy and public jury trial provisions, didn’t foresee anything like this pandemic. Only war and civil unrest have previously and drastically curtailed constitutionally guaranteed rights of criminal defendants to this extent, most significantly 157 years ago. Defense lawyers say the contagion has pushed an already-bent criminal justice system to the breaking point, from where it may not fully return. ...