This month’s oral hearings in the Georgia Supreme Court will be held remotely, presiding judge David Nahmias said Thursday.
Less than a week after Verda Colvin was sworn in as the newest Supreme Court judge during a live ceremony at the State Capitol, and two months after the court held personal hearings at the nearby Nathan Deal Judicial Center.
Nahmias cited the surge in COVID-19 cases due to the highly contagious Delta variant and the resulting revision of public health guidelines.
“We continue to encourage courts to pursue remote litigation when it is lawful, effective and safer,” said Nahmias. “Our court would prefer personal oral arguments, but we have found that remote oral arguments are reasonably effective and safer for those involved.”
Nahmias said evidence hearings and juries elsewhere in the Georgian judicial system, which must be conducted in person, should continue to be subject to “adequate health protection.”
Former Chief Justice Harold Melton sparked a number of statewide judicial emergencies after the coronavirus pandemic first hit Georgia last March.
Although the last of these orders expired on June 30, the state’s Supreme Court has expanded the emergency rules to allow all levels of the judicial system to continue to conduct some proceedings using video conferencing technology.
This month’s oral hearings in the Georgia Supreme Court are due to take place on August 24th, August 25th and August 26th. No decision has yet been taken on the oral negotiations scheduled for mid-September.
This story comes to GPB through a reporting partnership with Capitol Beat News Service.
