Washington’s court system is buckling under a crushing backlog of criminal and civil cases, with felony trials now being pushed years into the future as more than a quarter of D.C.’s judicial seats remain vacant.
This backlog leaves victims waiting for justice, defendants trapped in legal limbo, and families across the District facing mounting instability in housing, probate, custody, and other cases.
Court officials, defense attorneys, legal scholars, and advocates say the crisis has moved far beyond a bureaucratic inconvenience and into a constitutional emergency affecting nearly every corner of the city’s justice system. According to the D.C. Courts’ annual statistical summary, more than 106,000 cases were pending or available for disposition in Superior Court at the start of 2025.
Fewer than 61,000 were resolved during the year, leaving more than 40,000 unresolved heading into 2026. Criminal felony backlogs worsened sharply, growing from 2,198 pending felony cases at the beginning of 2025 to 3,438 by year’s end.
“When delays become so severe that victims cannot get closure, defendants cannot receive timely trials, witnesses disappear, and judges are forced to triage justice, the issue is no longer administrative,” Tracy Velázquez, policy director at the Council for Court Excellence, told The Informer. “The right to a speedy trial is a constitutional guarantee, and courts are one of the core systems our communities rely on for accountability and fairness.”
The mounting delays have come as political pressure surrounding crime in Washington has intensified, even while violent crime and property crime statistics have declined in the District.
Data from D.C.’s Crime Cards dashboard and criminal justice agencies show that major categories of violent crime have continued trending downward. At the same time, felony filings in D.C. Superior Court surged dramatically in 2025.
The D.C. Sentencing Commission reported a 44% increase in felony cases filed compared with the previous year, with 1,275 additional felony cases entering the system. Half of all felony filings in 2025 occurred between September and December alone.
The numbers reveal a court system absorbing far more cases than it can resolve. In 2025, there were 6,501 adult felony arrests in the District, a 13% increase from the prior year and the highest number since the Sentencing Commission began tracking the data in 2018. Prosecutors “papered,” or formally charged, roughly 80% of those arrests, also an all-time high. The Sentencing Commission found that 53% of felony cases filed in 2025 were still pending disposition as of January 2026 because the courts could not move cases fast enough.
“Without a doubt, the political and media rhetoric around crime in D.C. has led to an increased pace of arrests and prosecutions,” Velázquez said. “Ironically with the biggest jump in the prosecutions being of minor misdemeanor charges and not more violent felonies.”
Defense attorneys and court observers say the consequences are cascading throughout the system. Defendants who have not been convicted remain jailed for months or years awaiting trial or continue living under restrictive bail conditions while cases inch through the courts. Victims and witnesses often wait years for closure while evidence weakens and memories fade. Legal experts say delays increasingly create constitutional challenges that can lead to cases being dismissed altogether.
“As a criminal defense lawyer for over 36 years, with past experience as a Crown Prosecutor, I have personally seen the increase in backlogs and the manner a court system treats defendants pending a decision,” criminal defense attorney Michael Kruse said in a statement. “The strain placed on judges and prosecutors from excessive caseloads is having a serious impact on the justice system.”
Kruse said prolonged delays damage nearly every aspect of the legal process.
“The longer a file is inactive in a court system, the more weight the evidence loses for the purpose of proving the case and the colder it becomes for the lawyers who will be evaluating it for use later,” Kruse said. “Defense counsel can make an application to the court for the proceedings to be stayed or for the charges to be dismissed completely.”’
‘Court Vacancies Affect the Entire City‘
The D.C. Sentencing Commission’s latest report also showed that roughly 39% of adult felony arrests in 2025 did not result in a Superior Court conviction, either because cases were never formally prosecuted, were dismissed, or ended without conviction. At the same time, plea agreements dominated the system, accounting for 92% of felony case resolutions in 2025, while jury trials remained relatively rare.
The burden has spilled into the D.C. jail as well. Velázquez noted that increasing pretrial detention periods are contributing to rising jail populations even while crime falls. She pointed to three inmate deaths already reported this year inside the D.C. jail.
Reports from attorneys, judges and court officials paint a picture of a system stretched to its limits. Reportedly, some hearings have continued late into the night as judges struggle to manage overloaded dockets. Further, severe judicial shortages have delayed criminal proceedings and slowed nearly every division of the court system. D.C. Witness also documented warnings from judges and attorneys who said confirmation delays for judicial nominees have created an increasingly dangerous strain on the courts.
The impact extends far beyond criminal courtrooms. Velázquez said ordinary residents waiting on family court rulings, probate disputes, evictions, small claims, and custody hearings are also paying the price.
“Justice delayed in our local courts can mean prolonged instability in housing, finances, caregiving, and family life,” Velázquez said. “Court vacancies affect the entire city, not just high-profile criminal cases.”
Professor Matthew Fraidin of the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law said the damage is especially severe for Black and low-income families involved in D.C.’s child welfare system.
“Government intrusion in the lives of Black and low-income families is dangerous to begin with, and when it happens in secret, there is no accountability whatsoever,” Fraidin wrote in an email to The Informer, noting that child abuse and neglect proceedings are conducted behind closed doors with sealed records.
The Metropolitan Police Department declined to comment directly on the backlog crisis.
“We must refer you to the courts for comment on their operations and procedures,” MPD spokesperson Lee Lepe said in a statement.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office also declined comment.
The judicial vacancy crisis remains at the center of the growing emergency. Velázquez noted that D.C. stands alone nationally because its local trial court judges are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate rather than elected locally. Six nominees recommended by the D.C. Judicial Nomination Commission are still awaiting Senate confirmation hearings.
“People outside the system hear ‘judicial vacancies’ and may see it as a procedural or political issue, but in reality it has serious, direct consequences on the lives of people in the District,” Velázquez said.
