Georgia’s statewide judicial emergency order is being extended for the 11th time due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an order signed Sunday by Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Harold Melton.
The most recent extension, which will expire on March 9, is “nearly identical” to an order signed on Jan. 8 that once again suspended jury trials. However, it said those trials may begin again next month.
Melton first suspended jury trials in the emergency order signed on March 14, 2020. The chief justice in October 2020 signed an order that ended the suspension after a backlog of untried cases began to grow.
“Our judicial system, and the criminal justice system in particular, must have some capacity to resolve cases by trial, and our trial courts have accumulated many cases that are awaiting trial,” he said.
In December, as the COVID-19 pandemic escalated throughout the state, Melton signed another order suspending jury trials that were not already in progress.
“We have never shut down the courts since this emergency began,” Melton said. “However, because we compel people to come to court, and due to the large numbers of people required for jury trials, early on we suspended jury trials and most grand jury proceedings. Since then, our courts across the state have been hard at work putting in place plans for their resumption in compliance with public health guidance and guidelines by the Judicial COVID-19 Task Force to safeguard the health and safety of all involved.”
The newest order notes that jury trials could resume in March, saying that “the surge in COVID-19 cases that led to the suspension of jury trials appears now to be declining. Assuming that conditions generally continue to improve, it is anticipated that the next extension order on March 9 will authorize superior and state courts, in their discretion, to resume jury trials as local conditions allow.”
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