COVID-19, Criminal Enforcement, and the Imperiled Fate of the Statute of Limitations
March 22, 2020 | The Insider: White Collar Defense and Securities Enforcement
Just as the COVID-19 pandemic has devastated public and private life with alarming speed – with forced social distancing, widespread layoffs, stock market turmoil, and the nightmare scenario of hospitals being overrun – so too has it had a massive and tumultuous effect on the criminal justice system. Indeed, just as the elderly and those with underlying health conditions are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 and its effects, so are those who have the extreme misfortune (whether through their own actions or otherwise) of finding themselves in the criminal justice system as the virus races through all corners of America, including its jails, prisons, and potentially its courthouses as well. [...]