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It is true that court congestion and delay is a serious problem at both the federal and state levels, but a National Center for State Courts Research Division study showed that several other commonly accepted ideas about court system ineffectiveness are untrue. Public defenders were found to be just as good as paid counsel at meeting the standards of timeliness and performance. The growth in plea bargaining was found to be a sign of the increasing professionalization of the judicial system. Criminal convictions ar usually upheld on appeal. Discovery abuse is not widespread.

The Essex County, NJ Criminal Division had a large backlog in the spring of 1990 and was known as one of the slowest criminal court systems in the US. The backlog was eliminated by a management team which developed a system of special remand courts for less serious cases, thus leaving the criminal division free to adjudicate serious cases more promptly. As a result, the Criminal Division held many more trials and imposed more prison sentences. The backlog was eliminated in about a year and a half without causing the criminal courts to lose their deterrent effect. .