Georgia’s Supreme Court Chief Justice has again extended the statewide judicial emergency order. The move is due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic.
This represents an 11th extension of the order.
Chief Justice Harold Melton first suspended jury trials in March 2020. By October, he ended the suspension, as he writes “our judicial system, and the criminal justice system in particular, must have some capacity to resolve cases by trial, and our trial courts have accumulated many cases that are awaiting trial.”
But due to a “rapid escalation of COVID-19 cases,” December 23, 2020 brought another suspension of all jury trials not already in progress.
This new suspension will expire on March 9. “The hope now is that the recent decline in the number of cases, along with the rollout of vaccines against the virus, will allow jury trials to resume in March,” a Georgia Supreme Court statement reads.