Code Revision Commission et al v. Public.Resource.Org, Inc.

Filing 79

FIFTH AMENDMENT TO GENERAL ORDER 20-01 RE: COURT OPERATIONS UNDER THE EXIGENT CIRCUMSTANCES CREATED BY COVID-19 AND RELATED CORONAVIRUS. Signed by Judge Thomas W. Thrash, Jr. on 7/10/2020 (rvb) (ADI)

FILED IN CLERK'S OFFICE
U.S.D.C. -Atlanta

UNITED ST ATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA

JUL 1 0 2020
JAM'r, N. ~ TTEN, Clerk
Yn71t-Oeputy Clerk

By:

IN RE: COURT OPERATIO NS UNDER
THE EXIGENT CIRCUMSTANCES
CREATED BY COVID-19 AND RELATED
CORONA VIRUS

y,

GENERAL ORDER 20-01
Fifth Amendment

ORDER

General Order 20-01 , dated March 16, 2020, and amended by orders dated March
30, 2020; April 30, 2020; May 26, 2020; and July 1, 2020, addresses Court operations for
the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia under the exigent
circumstances created by the spread of COVID-19. The Fourth Amendment to General
Order 20-01 , entered July 1, 2020, extended the time periods specified in the Order through
and including July 31 , 2020.
Data from the Georgia Department of Public Health reflects that the average number
of new COVID-19 cases per day in the State of Georgia has increased and remains higher
than it was on March 16, 2020, when the Court originally entered General Order 20-01.
The total number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in Georgia continues to rise, and no
vaccine or cure is available to the general public. There has been no change to the
President's declaration of a national emergency under the National Emergencies Act (50
U.S.C. § 1601 et seq.) due to COVID-19 or to the findings of the Judicial Conference of
the United States that emergency conditions due to this national emergency have materially
affected and will materially affect the functioning of the federal courts generally.

As the adverse conditions giving rise to General Order 20-01 have not sufficiently
resolved for the Court to return to normal operations, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that
General Order 20-01, as amended, is further amended to extend the time periods specified
therein through and including the date of August 30, 2020.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that while there will be no civil or criminal jury
trials in any division of the Northern District of Georgia until after August 30, 2020, grand
jury proceedings may continue to be held, and summonses may be issued to prospective
jurors for proceedings scheduled to begin after August 30, 2020.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the time period of any continuance entered as
a result of this Order (whether that continuance causes a pre-indictment delay or a pre-trial
delay) shall be excluded under the Speedy Trial Act, 18 U.S.C. § 316l(h)(7)(A), as the
Court finds that the ends of justice served by taking that action outweigh the interests of
the parties and the public in a speedy trial. Absent further order of the Court or any
individual judge, the period of exclusion shall be from March 23, 2020, through and
including August 30, 2020. The Court may extend the period of exclusion as circumstances
may warrant. This Order and period of exclusion are incorporated by reference as a specific
finding under 18 U.S.C. § 316l(h)(7)(A) in the record of each pending case where the
Speedy Trial Act applies. See Zedner v. United States, 547 U.S. 489, 506-07 (2006). The
periods of exclusion in the Court' s prior orders on this subject, General Order 20-01 and
its subsequent amendments, are likewise incorporated by reference as a specific finding

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under 18 U.S.C. § 316l(h)(7)(A) in the record of each pending case where the Speedy Trial
Act applies.

SO ORDERED this

_lQ__

day of July 2020.

THOMAS W. THRASH, JR.
CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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