South Carolina state court closures; No suspension for federal case

Last week, I saw different approaches to the South Carolina pandemic. In the state court system, Supreme Court President Don Beatty suspended all civil and criminal jury trials, concluding “that, in light of the continued increase in COVID-19 cases across South Carolina, and the expectation of the medical community and experts that the number of positive cases will continue to increase in the near future, it is prudent once again to make changes to the functioning of the county courts to protect those who work within the courts, as well as those who serve our state by participating in the jury service … Circuit courts across the state are ordered not to initiate any jury trial after December 4, 2020. ”

In federal court, however, United States district judge J. Michelle Childs did not respond well to a defendant’s suggestion that a requested suspension might not be so important given the pandemic. She wrote:

“The defendant is seriously mistaken that ‘due to the global pandemic of COVID-19 (and its particular impact on the dates of the civil trial), a suspension may ultimately have no significant impact on the trial schedule in this case.’ The undersigned has conducted a civil and criminal trial since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the success of these trials and the extensive protocols that the court has in place, the undersigned intends to proceed with all hearings and trials as scheduled. As a result, this case will be heard in September 2021, as contemplated by the Third Order of Amended Programming … ”