Speedy Trial Resources

CASES

• Betterman v. Montana, 136 S. Ct. 1609 (2016) 

• Bloate v. United States, 559 US 196 (2010)

• Zedner v. United States, 547 US 489 (2006)

• Doggett v. United States, 505 US 647 (1992)

• Henderson, v. United States, 476 US 321 (1986)

• Waller v. Georgia, 467 U.S. 39 (1984)

• Dillingham v. United States, 423 US 64 (1975)

• Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514 (1972)

• Dickey v. Florida, 398 U.S. 30 (1970)

• Klopfer v. North Carolina, 386 US 213 (1967)

• United States v. Ewell, 383 U.S.116 (1966)

STATUTES

• The Speedy Trial Act (1974)

LAW REVIEW ARTICLES

• Brandon Marc Draper, Zoom Justice: When Constitutional Rights Collide in Cyberspace, May 7, 2020.

• Eliot, Tracz, Revisiting the Right to a Speedy Trial: Reconciling the Sixth Amendment with the Speedy Trial Act, 47 Cap. U. L. Rev. 1 (2019).

• Sarah R. Grimsdale, The Better Way to Stop Delay: Analyzing Speedy Sentencing Claims in the Wake of Betterman v. Montana, 72 Vand. L. Rev. 1031 (2019).

• Seth Osnowitz, Demanding a Speedy Trial: Re-Evaluating the Assertion Factor in the Baker v. Wingo Test, 67 Case W. Res. L. Rev. 273 (2016).

• Kristin Saetveit, Beyond Pollard: Applying the Sixth Amendment’s Speedy Trial Right to Sentencing, 68 STAN. L.REV. 481 (2016)

• Brooks Holland, The Two-Sided Speedy Trial Problem, 90 WASH. L. REV. ONLINE 31, April 14, 2015.

• Mary Beth Ricke, Victims' Right to a Speedy Trial: Shortcomings, Improvements, and Alternatives to Legislative Protection, 41 WASH. U. J. L. & POL’Y 181 (2013).

OTHER RESOURCES

• Speedy Trial Rights, National Conference of State Legislatures, April 24, 2021.

• Robert Lewis, Waiting for Justice, CalMatters, 2021.

• Pandemic Resources for Courts, National Center for State Courts.

• Why 4,998 died in U.S. jails without getting their day in court By Peter Eisler, Linda So, Jason Szep, Grant Smith and Ned Parker, Reuters, October 6, 2020.

• Effective Criminal Case Management Tools, National Center for State Courts, 2020.

• Effective Criminal Case Management: Project Overview, National Center for State Courts, 2020.

• Brian J. Ostrom, Ph.D., Lydia E. Hamblin, Ph.D., Richard Y. Schauffler, Delivering Timely Justice in Criminal Cases: A National Picture, National Center for State Courts, 2020.

• Matt Reynolds, How the Coronavirus Is Upending The Criminal Justice System, March 19, 2020. 

• Jeffrey Bellin, Waiting for Justice, The Marshall Project, February 7, 2018.

• ABA Standards for Criminal Justice: Speedy Trial and Timely Resolution of Criminal Cases, 3d ed. 2006.

NEWS ARTICLES

• East Alabama man, jailed for five years, still waiting for speedy trial (WRBL, November 4, 2022). 

• A Right to a Speedy Jury Trial? Don't Count On It During the Coronavirus Pandemic (Reason, January 12th, 2020).

BLOGS, VIDEOS, WEBINARS, PODCASTS

​Preserving the 6th Amendment: The Right to a Speedy Trial Amid Court Closures & Re-Openings

Moderated by UC Berkeley Law Professor Andrea Roth, this webinar features a discussion on the speedy trial right generally and a variety of stakeholder perspectives on how to meet today’s challenges.

Meet the panelists and see a full transcript here

How Will You Address COVID-Caused Criminal Case Backlogs?

This webinar, hosted on January 22, 2021 by the National Association for Presiding Judges, reviews research-based approaches to modernize criminal case processing, reduce backlogs, and sustain successful operational improvements within the court’s culture. Questions addressed include:

• Is your court ready and able to apply proven criminal case management solutions to restart case processing? 

• What should individual judges do to become more proficient in managing their criminal dockets? 

• How can court leaders help reduce systemic barriers to improve criminal caseflow?