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

Filing 82

EIGHTH AMENDMENT TO GENERAL ORDER 20-01 RE: COURT OPERATIONS UNDER THE EXIGENT CIRCUMSTANCES CREATED BY COVID19 AND RELATED CORONA VIRUS. Signed by Judge Thomas W. Thrash, Jr. on 09/28/2020. (rvb) (ADI)

FILED IN CLERK'S OFFICE
U.S.O.C. • Atlanta

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SEP 2 8 2020
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA

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

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JAME N. HATTEN, Clerk
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By: lj (Vj ~
eputy Clerk

GENERAL ORDER 20-01
Eighth Amendment

ORDER

General Order 20-01 , dated March 16, 2020, as amended by orders dated March 30,
2020; April 30, 2020; May 26, 2020 ; July 1, 2020; July 10, 2020; August 3, 2020; and
September 1, 2020; addresses Court operations for the United States District Court for the
Northern District of Georgia under the exigent circumstances created by the Coronavirus
Pandemic and the spread ofCOVID-19. The Seventh Amendment to General Order 20-01 ,
entered September 1, 2020, extended the time periods specified in the Order through and
including November 1, 2020.
Data from the Georgia Department of Public Health reflects that the average number
of confirmed new COVID-19 cases in the State of Georgia remains significantly in excess
of 1,000 cases per day as do the fourteen and seven-day averages for daily confirmed cases
within the State. These numbers far exceed those that existed at the time the Court entered
General Order 20-01 and are among the highest nationally. Georgia now ranks fourth in
the United States in total cases behind only California, Florida, and Texas. The four
counties within Georgia with the most confirmed COVID-19 cases: Fulton, Gwinnett,
Cobb, and DeKalb, are all within the Northern District. Together these counties currently

account for almost thirty percent of the cases within the State. While declining from the
extreme highs experienced in July, the percentage of those tested for COVID-19 who test
positive still exceeds eight percent, again among the highest positivity rates nationally. As
reflected in the data, the prevalence of COVID-19 within the District is far greater than it
was on March 16, 2020, when the Court originally entered General Order 20-01.
The total number of COVID-19 deaths in Georgia and the Northern District
continues to rise, and no vaccine or cure is yet 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. Specifically, within the Northern District, emergency conditions have
prevented defense counsel from meeting with their in-custody clients and have severely
limited communications with those clients in general. Capabilities provided by technology ,
while helpful, are inadequate to offset the impediments currently confronted by counsel in
this District. Other aspects of case preparation have been similarly impacted. As a result of
Georgia' s level of COVID-19 infections and test positivity, witness travel has been
problematic due to quarantine regulations in effect in many states that apply to persons
traveling to and from Georgia. These circumstances and others have severely impeded if
not prevented counsels ' ability to prepare for trial.

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To date the Court has suspended jury trials in the hopes that COVID-19 could be
contained, and its threat eliminated. The continued spread of COVID-19 within the United
States and Georgia after months of intense preventative measures, however, makes clear
that the resumption of jury trials cannot await the complete demise of this disease. At the
same time, the Court will not reinitiate jury trials while it deems the public health and safety
and that of those appearing before the Court cannot be adequately protected. Based on the
above, it is the conclusion of the Court that a further extension of the suspension of jury
trials is required to allow conditions within the District to sufficiently improve so that
counsel can adequately prepare for trial and the health and safety of the public, those
appearing before the Court, and the Court itself, can be adequately safeguarded. The
extension of the suspension of jury trials also will facilitate the further coordination of
health and safety procedures that will be required when jury trials resume, which the Court
plans to occur in January 2021.
Therefore,

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
January 3, 2021.

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 January 3, 2021 , grand
jurors may continue to be summoned and grand jury proceedings may continue to be held;

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and summonses may be issued to prospective jurors for civil and criminal jury trials
scheduled to begin after January 3, 2021.

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 January 3, 2021. 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
under 18 U.S.C. § 3161 (h)(7)(A) in the record of each pending case where the Speedy Trial
Act applies.

SO ORDERED this -2!L day of September 2020.

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