Courts Move Proceedings Online | RBG Still Hitting The Gym | The Coronavirus-Caused Cases That Could One Day End Up At SCOTUS
April 1, 2020
LET'S TAKE THIS ONLINE
|“With courtrooms shuttered for most in-person hearings, the federal judiciary is for the first time broadly allowing certain criminal proceedings to take place by video and teleconference, a sea change for technology-resistant trial courts throughout the country.” Ann E. Marimow with The Washington Post reports on the policy announced yesterday to allow judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys and defendants to work and appear remotely so as to help slow the spread of COVID-19. The Judicial Conference, which governs the federal courts, approved a temporary exemption to a long-standing rule against cameras in courtrooms in response to provisions in the federal stimulus package signed by PRESIDENT TRUMP last week. SCOTUS still hasn’t said what its plans are to move forward with its current docket in the age of social distancing and shelter in place policies.
IN ALL TRANSPARENCY
|Josh Gerstein with POLITICO reports on the language in the stimulus package that allows federal courts to use audio and video conferencing for criminal cases during the current pandemic. Gerstein writes, “The possibility of broader video and audio access to federal court hearings, even on a temporary basis, heartened supporters of cameras in the courts. While many states allow TV and radio coverage of nearly all court proceedings, almost all trial court proceedings at the federal level ban such coverage.” But as GABE ROTH with Fix the Court notes in the report, it’s unlikely these virtual hearings will help with improved transparency of our courts if the media and public can’t tune in. “Videoconferencing is pointless if the public, via its proxies in the media, has no access to the feed,” said Roth.
USING CORONAVIRUS AS A COVER
|“On Tuesday, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allowed Texas to revive its ban on virtually all abortion in a brief order. Although the 2–1 decision is only temporary, it indicates that the court will soon rule that the Constitution permits states to outlaw abortion during the coronavirus pandemic. When that decision comes down, abortion providers will almost certainly turn to the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the justices to block abortion bans justified by the COVID-19 outbreak.” Mark Joseph Stern with Slate covers the latest round in the Texas abortion battle that is likely to soon reach CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN ROBERTS who will once again have to decide where he sits on the issue of abortion access and state power. Stern says, “Roberts will have to decide whether to sanction the 5th Circuit’s brazen defiance of binding precedent governing abortion. This time, the stakes are as high as can be: Texas is not just trying to limit abortion but to end it completely for the first time since Roe v. Wade, using the pandemic as cover.”
DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS
|Speaking of the Lone Star State, a recent order from a Harris County judge calls for all individuals to stay at their place of residence and requires faith leaders to follow social distance protocols. But the restriction on in-person worship services has led to a lawsuit filed by three Texas pastors and a Republican activist who want the state supreme court to strike down the order and allow pastors to gather groups of people even in the face of a growing pandemic. Ian Millhiser with Vox explains the pending dispute.
ON DECK
|Bonnie Kristian writes in The Week about potential coronavirus-related cases that could one day end up at the Supreme Court. She foresees cases concerning the First Amendment’s protection of freedoms of assembly, of free exercise of religion as well as the Second Amendment and access to reproductive health care. She writes, “The Supreme Court has postponed its next round of oral arguments due to the novel coronavirus, a rarity in SCOTUS history, and it is unclear how the court will proceed as isolation orders lengthen. Whatever the justices decide, though, this pandemic may well give them a very full docket.”
YOU DON'T GOTTA GO TO WORK, BUT YOU GOTTA PUT IN WORK
|Although the Supreme Court still hasn’t announced its plans for revisiting its cases waiting oral argument and review, JUSTICE RUTH BADER GINSBURG has continued putting in her work at the gym. The Notorious RBG’s personal trainer says the cancer survivor and eldest member of the highest court has been continuing with her regular gym sessions. BRYANT JOHNSON told CNN, “Everybody’s been shut down. The only reason why I didn’t shut the justice down is because, hey, she ain’t having it.” Veronica Stracqualursi with CNN reports.