While courthouses in densely populated counties across Georgia stick to their plan of primarily mandating masks and making vaccinations optional for visitors and staff during the COVID-19 pandemic, those restrictions are being eased and others are considering a similar move due to a recent drop in numbers Coronavirus cases.
According to the Georgia Department of Public Health website, there were only 1,259 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the state as of November 9. That number was well below its peak of 9,744 that summer on August 25, caused by a surge in cases caused by the Delta variant of the virus.
“Effective [Nov. 1], the courts will change our COVID mask policy from “mandatory” to “strongly recommended”, ”said Phil Boudewyns, Gwinnett County Judicial Administrator, Court Administrator. “Masks are still required as directed by the judge in the jury assembly, clerk’s office, and courtrooms.”
Jeff Montgomery, spokesman for the Athens-Clarke County Unified Government, said although its judicial system and other departments are monitoring statewide COVID data, it is unlikely to change its masking policy on its buildings until the county’s numbers move up to a point have improved.
“As soon as we get below 50 per 100,000 in 7 days – the CDC numbers – we may consider some more optional mask components for vaccinated people, but we’re not there yet,” he said.
District Courts
After the courthouses resumed in-person proceedings earlier this year, the Daily Report contacted those in the state’s 10 most populous counties – five in metropolitan Atlanta (Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton, and Gwinnett) and five elsewhere in Georgia (Athens-Clarke .). , Chatham, Macon-Bibb, Columbus-Muscogee and Augusta-Richmond) – about their mask and vaccination policies. The Daily Report also received information from the Georgia Supreme Court and the state’s three federal district courts.
Athens-Clarke, Chatham, Cobb, Columbus-Muscogee, DeKalb and Gwinnett district courthouses require all visitors and staff to wear masks in their buildings, according to their websites or their representatives’ emails in response to questionnaires.
The Bibb County Courthouse website states that masks are only required for unvaccinated visitors, but are optional for the vaccinated. According to a court order signed by the three chief judges of Clayton County’s courts, this district requires visitors and staff to wear masks while in the courthouse.
On Tuesday, in response to the drop in COVID-19 cases, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms issued an executive order lifting the city’s mask mandate for all indoor businesses. However, everyone must continue to wear masks in every urban facility. Similar city and state mask requirements in Athens-Clarke Savannah have not yet been lifted.
Earlier this month, Superior Court Judge David Emerson, who heads the Douglas Judicial Circuit, said he was considering lifting that court’s mask mandate for fully vaccinated employees. In addition, in response to multiple requests from the judges, all temperature controls at the building entrances could be set.
Federal courts
According to a court order posted on its website, the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the Eleventh District is demanding that visitors and staff be fully vaccinated, but if not, they will be required to provide evidence of a negative COVID-19 test that no longer applies is valid as three days old and wear masks when entering the building. Employees and contractors who are not fully vaccinated must be tested at least once a week, have a negative test every week, and wear a mask.
According to their websites, U.S. district courts for the central and southern Georgia counties do not require fully vaccinated visitors to wear a mask, and vaccinations are not a must. However, it is at the discretion of each judge to require persons in a courtroom to wear masks during a trial or hearing.
However, the Northern District of Georgia has a mask mandate in place.
In addition, the court requires all court staff in all departments to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or to undergo a PCR test for the virus twice a week, unless they have an approved religious or medical exception. This requirement does not apply to jurors or visitors, ”said Kevin Weimer, the district chairman / clerk.
State courts
According to its website, the Georgia Supreme Court resumed in-person oral arguments on June 9, after switching to a virtual format at the start of the pandemic in March 2020, with online oral arguments for August and September due to a surge in coronavirus cases . However, in October she resumed the personal oral arguments.
Regarding face-to-face oral disputes, staff and visitors do not need to be vaccinated, but they are “strongly encouraged,” said Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathleen Joyner, adding that all nine judges are fully vaccinated.
According to its website, the Georgia Court of Appeals mandates masks for all staff and visitors, but individuals speaking during court sessions can remove their masks at this time.
During the pandemic, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court issued nationwide emergency court orders to restrict the freedom of action of all courts in the state, including closing courts and gradually postponing them to allow all judicial proceedings to take place in person.
With the final order expiring on June 30, Joyner said, “There are no current state-wide court orders regarding COVID. However, the Supreme Court has told the local courts to continue to adhere to public health guidelines while keeping the Georgian judicial system running. “
Biden’s mandate has “zero impact”
According to President Joe Biden’s vaccination mandate, all companies with 100 or more employees must require their employees to be fully vaccinated by January 4, or to present a negative COVID-19 test at least once a week.
Polly Price, a professor of global health at the Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, said that while courthouses shouldn’t legally have a problem prescribing masks, the need for vaccines is “a whole different beast,” despite the presidential decree.
Biden’s vaccine mandate has already been legally denied on at least two fronts. On November 6, the day after it went into effect, the U.S. Fifth District Court of Appeals granted an immediate suspension of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) decree because the government believed it to be excessive.
On Wednesday, 10 states, led by Missouri, filed federal lawsuits in that state against Biden’s vaccine mandate. At least a dozen other Republican-led states have previously filed similar lawsuits to challenge the decree.
Price said Biden’s vaccine mandate will “have no impact” on Georgia’s courthouse as it only applies to large employers, as well as federal employees and contractors.
“The only variation I would see … [is] because the county or city has ordered COVID measures that would apply everywhere. It may not apply to the courts themselves, but they would follow, ”she said. She later added, “I would be surprised if they did it without a nationwide order. I could imagine that the highest judge of the state would decide, but I can hardly imagine a nationwide vaccination mandate. “
Price said the state passed law in the 1890s and early 1900s that allowed communities to issue smallpox vaccination mandates, which was optional if they so chose.
“The legislature provided local autonomy at the time, but the law may not still be the same,” she said.
