Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor

Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor

With Ohio’s Covid-19 cases and deaths escalating to record heights this week, Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor is asking judges to adhere to stringent health precautions in their courtrooms.

“Your first consideration as a judge is the health and safety of your employees and the public who enter the courthouse,” Chief Justice O’Connor wrote in a letter emailed to all Ohio judges.

“Everyone correctly wearing masks, taking temperatures, sanitizing, and socially distancing are mandatory practices to keep people safe,” she wrote. “The guidance remains the same.”

At the start of the Covid crisis, the chief justice distributed $6 million in technology grants to courts in 87 of Ohio’s 88 counties so that courts could hold hearings remotely.

“It is expected that judges will continue to take full advantage of this technology,” she wrote.

“The courts have beefed up technology to be able to hold remote hearings for most matters that come to the court,” she noted, listing “prisoner arraignments, civil filings, tele-pretrials, Zoom hearings and oral arguments, conferencing (and) tele-treatment.”

When Covid-19 cases fell during the summer, many courts returned to holding in-person jury trials, while maintaining safety measures and social distancing. With the numbers now rising to record levels, some courts have temporarily halted jury trials.

“I regard that as a smart move, given the current situation,” Chief Justice O’Connor said. “…the increase in cases is just as dangerous as it was when the numbers were at their peak in late spring. It may become more dangerous as people head indoors for the winter.”

“We may also be more at risk because the sensible precautions taken by most in the early stages seem to now be disregarded by so many.”