COLOMBIA – Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of SC, Donald Beatty, has again ordered the suspension of personal hearings across the state, another significant obstacle to the legal system, as the state has failed to contain the outbreak of coronavirus infections.
Beatty’s edict, which takes effect on Monday and covers all criminal and civil issues, reverses his September ruling that allowed judges to open their local courts. In taking this action, Beatty emphasized the duty of the courts to grant defendants their constitutional rights to swift resolution of their cases.
Beatty now points to the latest increase in cases in large areas of the state. More than 48,000 have been infected in the past two weeks alone, with test infection rates of up to 30 percent – five percent of tests or less returning positive results is a good sign that the spread of the virus is slowing, say the researchers.
Health officials point to an increase in meetings around the holidays as a likely cause for the weeks-long increase.
That prospect requires more “unprecedented changes in ordinary court operations,” wrote Beatty in his order, which was distributed to court officials on Wednesday night.
Beatty’s order allows hearings covering emergency bail issues or protection orders in state criminal courts, with a similar provision for emergencies in the family court. Beatty again asked local judges to conduct hearings remotely, whenever possible.
Overall, the virus in South Carolina has infected more than 306,000. As of Wednesday, contagion has killed 5,139 in the state.
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