Access to justice: Keeping courts running during COVID-19

Across the state of Rhode Island and the rest of the country, shutdowns of all kinds are affecting everyday business.

However, for emergency and essential matters of the court, four judicial buildings do remain open. After a series of incremental closures of other buildings in the past weeks, the Garrahy Judicial Complex, Noel Judicial Complex, Traffic Tribunal and the Providence Superior/Supreme Court Licht Complex are all open for essential business, although business is being done in a completely new way.

The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged the state’s court system to ensure continued access to justice. Rhode Island Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul A. Suttell, in his March 19 message to his colleagues, noted that although he knew that closing the courts to all but emergency matters was the right thing to do, “it was no doubt my saddest moment as a Chief Justice.”

According to Craig Berke, spokesperson for the courts, during a recent teleconference, the chief judges of each of the state’s six courts determine which cases are considered to be of an emergency nature and essential. An example of such types of cases might include criminal arraignments, domestic violence cases where a restraining order is involved, other types of restraining order cases, and types of cases where child safety is an issue.

Additionally, Workers’ Compensation cases are considered to be essential because oftentimes they involve treatment or medication for an employee that is needed right away, or issues that determine income for a family.

“We have people out there working with injuries still, and people need to be compensated,” said Workers’ Compensation Court Judge Steve Minicucci.

Although courthouses are open and operating, there are no trials by a jury and the business of the courts looks very different.

“All of our courts are in compliance with Gov. Raimondo’s orders for social distancing … so we have about a third of our normal staff and we keep them separated. Many of them are working from home,” Workers’ Compensation Court Chief Judge Robert Ferrieri said. “Once we realized that this [crisis] was going to be long-term, we began hearing cases telephonically on March 23 and we have nearly 80 percent of our attorneys working from home.”

Today’s technology has allowed for the electronic filing of cases and documents from lawyers. Case volume has decreased substantially, however – about 1,500 each day compared with the usual 2,400 to 2,500, a roughly 40 percent drop-off.

“We have stepped up our game remotely, and six weeks ago the state court administrator ordered extra laptops which were split up and distributed around to the different courts,” Berke said.

Other tools being utilized include WebEx video conferencing, which started recently for pretrial conferences. WebEx allows for witnesses to tell their stories and people to see each other in cases such as contested pretrials, status conferences, settlement conferences and settlement hearings.

“We have a clerk, a judge and a stenographer in the room, and it allows us to reach a resolution and close out claims,” Ferrieri said. “We have three judges per day and three calendars with everyone else working from home. It’s been good. It’s been a struggle, there have been some WiFi issues we’ve worked through, but everyone has embraced it. It gives our attorneys a chance to work, to earn money and to put money into their clients’ pockets. It’s good for the employees and for the employers. Everyone is working together.”

According to Berke, Superior Court Judge Brian Stern was the first judge to try WebEx for video conferencing. He noted that the application can even be used from a smartphone.

“It actually works better from a phone than on a laptop, and it’s almost like being right in front of the judge,” Ferrieri said. “We are looking into using some of these tools for the more long term and looking to see if we can do more of these types of cases. Some of us are dinosaurs here, but Chief Suttell has gotten the infrastructure set up. We have all the laptops and we have webcams. We have had great leadership here, and it’s very important for people to know that the courtroom doors are still virtually open. We are hearing cases and business is being done.”