Another judge noted during the same period that prosecutors were dropping cases at a surprisingly high rate, even after keeping defendants detained for days. “That’s not the way it’s supposed to work, and it has real-world consequences,” the judge said.

Yes, it has real world consequences - for the innocent defendants that were locked up. It doesn’t seem to have any consequence whatsoever for those that bring the spurious charges. They are all officers of the court which means the court can sanction them. It should sanction them. People are being unjustly detained, overworked courts have to deal with this crap, and the taxpayer foots the bill for all of it.

I get that it takes some time to adjust to a system that has become vindictive and unfair, but after a year, it’s about time judges start meting out punishment to prosecutors who bring garbage cases, especially when it’s about Congresspeople (with immunity anyway) stating the obvious (that service members can refuse unlawful orders).