Prof. Sandy Mayson has found that failure-to-appear (FTA) is a systemic phenomenon that plays central role in criminal case processing in Philadelphia.
Sandy Mayson, Professor of Law, has published a white paper, “Court No-Shows: A Systemic Issue,” which summarizes research presented in “Systemic Failures to Appear in Court,” published in the University of Pennsylvania Law Review and co-authored by Lindsay Graef PhD’24; Aurélie Ouss, University of Pennsylvania criminology professor; and Megan Stevenson, Professor of Law and Economics at the University of Virginia.
Mayson researches and writes in the fields of criminal law, constitutional law, and legal theory, with a focus on the role of preventive restraint in the criminal legal system. She is a past fellow at the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice, as is her co-author Stevenson.
From the white paper:
It’s not just defendants who fail to appear at required court dates. A police officer, civilian witness, or private attorney fails to appear in court in more than half of Philadelphia’s cases: twice as often as defendants. Each time an essential party fails to appear, the hearing must be rescheduled, wasting time and money for all involved. Moreover, when witnesses fail to appear, cases are more likely to be dismissed or withdrawn. Our results show that failure-to-appear (FTA) is a systemic phenomenon, one that is playing a central role in criminal case processing in Philadelphia.
Key findings include:
- An essential police officer, civilian witness or lawyer misses court in 53% of cases.
- Police officers miss required hearings twice as often as defendants.
- Victims fail to appear in 70% of domestic violence cases.
- Court cases are twice as likely to be dismissed if a witness misses court.
Mayson’s academic work draws on her experience as a trial lawyer at Orleans Public Defenders, where she represented indigent clients in criminal proceedings and trained public defenders on immigration-sensitive defense practice. She is also engaged in pretrial law reform, has served as the Associate Reporter for the Uniform Law Commission’s Pretrial Release & Detention Act, co-authors amicus briefs in lawsuits challenging aspects of money-bail systems, and advises public and private stakeholders on pretrial reform initiatives.