Curtailed court proceedings since the COVID-19 pandemic are translating to big growth in the volume of backlogged cases in New Jersey’s trial courts.

The number of backlogged cases statewide in May 2020 represents a 153% increase over May 2019, according to data provided by the Administrative Office of the Courts. The courts counted 19,791 backlogged cases systemwide in May 2019 and 50,185 this May. (Those numbers exclude pre-indictment criminal cases, and cases in the multicounty litigation program for mass torts.)