SDNY Tightens Restrictions on Use of Manhattan Courthouses in Response to Coronavirus
Nearly all of the district court's limited activity will be conducted at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Courthouse on Pearl Street, where only urgent criminal matters, including arraignments and emergency bail matters, will be heard.
April 10, 2020 at 12:28 PM
3 minute read
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Friday announced a new set of restrictions at two federal courthouses in lower Manhattan, as the court continues to scale back its operations in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Starting April 13, nearly all of the district court's limited activity will be conducted at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Courthouse on Pearl Street, according to a memo posted on the court's website. The courthouse would remain open, but only to hear urgent criminal matters, including arraignments, emergency bail applications and reviews, the memo said.
No Southern District personnel would be on site just across the way to staff the Thurgood Marshall Courthouse, which would be closed to district matters, with the limited exception of hearing grand jury matters. The restrictions would remain in place until at least May 4.
The latest round of restrictions built on earlier measures by Chief Judge Colleen McMahon to maintain essential court functions and protect staff during the novel coronavirus outbreak, which had claimed nearly 17,000 American lives, as of Friday morning.
McMahon on March 27 entered a standing order suspending all jury trials until June 1, at the earliest. The court said Friday that no new juries were being called, and McMahon's earlier order may need to be extended "due to the lead time needed to call jurors."
Meanwhile, the attorney lounge in the Moynihan Courthouse would be used for remote emergency visits between defense lawyers and clients currently housed at the the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan and Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center. Visitation slots, however, have been extremely limited at both facilities, as officials at the federal Bureau of Prisons have struggled to meet the increased need for telephone and video calls.
The court would not be involved in arranging the meetings, and it would be up to the Federal Defenders of New York to provide information needed for attorneys to schedule visits, the memo said.
All arraignments across the district will take place in Courtroom 24B of the Moynihan Courthouse, with all participants, except a magistrate judge, working remotely. If no magistrate judge is present in the courthouse, indictments would be returned before the Part I judge.
The Charles L. Brieant Courthouse in White Plains would remain open to handle other criminal matters and emergency civil applications, according to the guidance.
All court reporting and interpreting services will be provided remotely, and parties to civil cases were directed to check the websites of individual judges for orders extending time and adjourning conferences.
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