Courts Doing Good Job Adapting to Pandemic
How are the courts coping with coronavirus?
They seem to be doing a good job implementing restrictions to ease the spread of the disease.
For example, Nebraska Chief Justice Mike Heavican has issued that make complete sense. In effect, it bars anyone with symptoms of the virus from participating in court proceedings. This includes not only lawyers but clients and any witnesses. Douglas County courts also have expanded teleconferencing.
Counties operate the courthouses, so even though Heavican ordered all courts to remain open, individual jurisdictions have imposed limits on access to the facilities within the buildings.
Lawyers have been watching what the U.S. Supreme Court has done, including postponing oral arguments. The court building has been closed to all access for the time being except for official court business.
While the courtroom used by Scotus is small, if full it exceeds a limitation on people as well as “social distancing.” The lectern at which advocates stand is a mere 3.5 feet from the front of the justices’ bench.
It is likely that the high court’s formal arguments will be postponed until at least May.
What are the options the court may employ to deal with the question of oral arguments in the time of crisis?
Tom Goldstein, the founder of Scotusblog and a frequent advocate before the justices, posted an answer toward the end of last week:
1. It could decide the cases on the merits (which, he adds, it has done in the past and could easily be done on one third of the cases set for March and April);
2. It could continue to defer the oral arguments in public; or
3. It could conduct the hearings without the public present.
Goldsteisn also suggests a fourth alternative, which he says is highly unlikely: livestream the arguments.
The reader should remember that the justices are mostly of an age “at risk” from the disease, as only Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh are under 60 and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is “of a certain age.”
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