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Received 08/24/2021 Supreme Court Eastern District
Filed 08/24/2021 Supreme Court Eastern District
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA
Docket No. 21 EM 2020
In Re: Philadelphia Municipal Court’s Request Pursuant to Pa.R.J.A.
1952(B)(2)(m) and (s) for an Emergency Order Authorizing the
President Judge of the Philadelphia Municipal Court to Suspend
the Operation of Pa.Rs.Crim.P. 600 and 1013 and any rule
restricting the Use of Advanced Communication Technology
Patrick F. Dugan, President Judge of the Philadelphia Municipal Court, hereby requests
the Supreme Court to enter an emergency order authorizing the President Judge of the
Philadelphia Municipal Court to suspend the operation of Pa.Rules.Crim.P. 600 and 1013
and any rule restricting the Use of Advanced Communication Technology, and represents
as follows:
. The First Judicial District took extraordinary steps, from the onset of the pandemic, to
ensure that criminal proceedings were held as safely and timely as possible. Municipal
Court maintained ongoing contact and interaction with its justice partners which
include the Defender Association, the District Attorney’s Office, the private Bar, the
Sheriff’s Office, the Philadelphia Police Department, the City of Philadelphia’s
Managing Director’s Office and the Department of Public Property (as well as its
building management subcontractor) and the Philadelphia Department of Prisons.
Safety concerns related to COVID-19 required modifications to court procedures and
case scheduling, with increased video hearings and, eventually, a limited number of in-
person proceedings scheduled hourly throughout the day.
2. With closures effectuated in March 2020, Municipal Court pivoted from in-person
proceedings to conducting as many proceedings as possible through the use of
Advanced Communication Technology (ACT). This required the FJD and stakeholders
to create and acclimate to a new way of scheduling and holding hearings in a
pandemic. Throughout the pandemic, Municipal Court’s criminal division NEVER
closed.
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From the onset of the pandemic, preliminary arraignment court continued to
operate 24/7. While arrests initially slowed, there was a steady increase to criminal
filings, particularly for violent crimes. From March 20, 2020 through July 2021,
Municipal Court conducted over 34,000 preliminary arraignments for new felony
and misdemeanor cases.
The FJD used ACT to conduct emergent motion hearings remotely for
approximately 1,000 custody inmates. Commencing March 20, 2020, the presiding
judge and court staff were present in the courtroom, with defendants confined in
the Philadelphia Prison System and attorneys participating remotely from various
locations.
Early Bail Review, Crash Court and Bench Warrant Court remained operational
since emergency closures were implemented in March 2020. From January
through August 23, 2021, ACT allowed the court to process over 6,000 hearings
with the presiding judge and court staff present in the courtroom from the onset of
the pandemic. As an alternative to conducting in-person proceedings, the
continued use of ACT is necessary for the referenced court lists with defendants
confined in local custody. This measure allows Municipal Court to continue limiting
the number of people in the courtroom, thereby preventing the spread of COVID-
19. Presiding judges and court staff will continue to be present in the courtroom,
and attorneys may opt to participant via video. Time schedules have been secured
with the Philadelphia Department of Prisons for incarcerated defendant
participation.
On August 31, 2020, Municipal Court reopened for in-person hearings starting with
homicides and non-fatal shooting preliminary hearings. By September 8, 2020, 7 of
our 13 courtrooms were operating in-person, and by November 2020,16
courtrooms were safely reopened in the Stout Center for Criminal Justice, along
with a new courtroom in the Philadelphia Department of Prison’s Detention Center
(March 2021). Courtrooms proceedings were a mix of in-person only and ACT
proceedings. Status listings in courtrooms commenced in May 2020. Additional
rooms opened with a focus on the adjudication of pretrial, felony custody matters.
From August through December 2020, we scheduled approximately 4,400 felony
preliminary hearings. Municipal Court scheduled an additional 32,805 felony
preliminary hearings January through August 2021.
In the last half of 2020, 21,750 cases were scheduled for status via ACT including
bail motions. While increasing the number of cases scheduled before judges, in
compliance with CDC guidelines for public health safety measures, we organized off
site locations for the remote testimony of police and civilian witnesses to further
decrease the number of people coming into the main courthouse building.
3. Recognizing the First Judicial District’s March 17, 2020 declaration of Judicial
Emergency, the resulting suspension of time calculations for the purposes of time
computations relevant to court cases and time deadlines, and the subsequent orders
extending same, the Supreme Court approved, by order dated July 2, 2021, the First
Judicial District’s request “to continue suspending Rules of Criminal Procedure 600
and 1013, as well as any procedural rules related to the use of advanced
communication technology (ACT) in court proceedings, through August 31, 2021.1
. Since that Order was entered, the surge in COVID-19 cases has increased
substantially, and there has been an increase in exposure to the highly contagious
Covid-19 variants. The 7-day case averaged 47 new cases per day on July 2, 2021
and increased to a 7-day average of 281 new cases per day as of August 19, 2021, a
600% increase in just over a month. The CDC has classified Philadelphia County as a
"high" to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Philadelphia County has the second
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1 A copy of the July 2, 2021 Order is attached
lowest vaccination rate per 100,000 residents of any County in the Commonwealth. In
the past month, The City of Philadelphia reinstated the indoor mask mandate. The
First Judicial District implemented the same policy, mandating mask wearing
regardless of vaccination status at all court facilities. Court leadership receives daily
and weekly updates on the number of employees who test positive for COVID-19.
Although there were weeks of zero, there has recently been a clear uptick in the
number of employee cases. There is no indication that the present rate of increase in
cases will abate in the near term.
. In light of the recent substantial and high rates of community transmission levels as
noted above, the Philadelphia Municipal Court requests the Court to further extend the
suspension of Rules of Criminal Procedure 600 and 1013, as well as any procedural
rules related to the use of advanced communication technology (ACT) in order to
dispose of its current inventory and new cases.
. Although Municipal Court judges assigned to criminal matters are working from the
Courthouse, and most proceedings are currently being conducted in-person, we
continue to maintain the option to conduct preliminary hearings and other Municipal
Court hearings and trials remotely. The Philadelphia Department of Prisons is
experiencing overcrowding conditions which have now been exacerbated by
increasing COVID-19 cases and the accompanying need to quarantine prisoners who
have tested positive or are suspected positive cases. Currently, approximately 385 of
the department's prisoner population are quarantined as positive or suspected COVID-
19 cases. All quarantined inmates are unavailable for court.
. Due to the above circumstances, both transporting defendants in custody for in-person
proceedings and conducting trials and other in-person proceedings present a potential
threat to prison and court staff, witnesses, parties, and counsel by exposing all such
individuals to multiple prolonged enclosed contacts with defendants who may have
been exposed to COVID-19 and others who are not members of the same household.
In March 2021, with the use of ACT, Municipal Court opened a Courtroom at the
Detention Center to alleviate the Sheriff’s transportation limitations at the Stout Center.
To date, we have scheduled over 1400 custody felony preliminary hearings to the
Detention Center Courtroom.
. Because in-person court proceedings for any COVID-19 positive or suspected positive
defendant cannot be held and must be continued, placing further strain on the court's
efficiency and its ability to timely dispose of the increased inventory as provided in
Pa.R.Crim.P. 600 and 1013, the Court’s authorization to suspend the application of
Rules 600 and 1013 will continue to assist the Philadelphia Municipal Court to manage
criminal matters in a manner that both maximized the safety of all participants and
moved cases toward trial as soon as practicable without undue concern that the
timeframes set forth by said rule would be compromised.
herefore, the current increase in exposure to Covid-19 and its variants requires the
continuation of remote hearings and suspension of the rules as noted above and the
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undersigned respectfully requests that the Court enter an order authorizing the
undersigned to continue to temporarily suspend, as necessary, the operation of
Pa.R.Crim.P. 600, 1013 and any rule restricting the Use of Advanced Communication
Technology through December 31, 2021 or for such other time as the Court deems
appropriate.
ate: August 24, 2021
D
PER CURIAM
AND NOW, this 2nd day of July, 2021, the Request Pursuant to Pa.R.J.A.
1952(B)(2)(m) is GRANTED. With respect to President Judge Idee C. Fox’s request to
suspend, through August 31, 2021, Rule of Criminal Procedure 1013, we observe that on
March 17, 2020, President Judge Fox issued Administrative Order No. 10 of 2020, which
declared that “[t]ime calculations for the purposes of time computation relevant to court
cases or other judicial business, as well as time deadlines, are suspended pursuant to
Pennsylvania Rule of Judicial Administration 1952(B).” Administrative Order No. 10,
3/17/2020 at ¶1. Based on this authority, and the subsequent orders extending it, we
grant the President Judge’s request to continue suspending Rules of Criminal Procedure
600 and 1013, as well as any procedural rules related to the use of advanced
communication technology (ACT) in court proceedings, through August 31, 2021. Judges
shall be present in the courthouse, judicial center, or other court facility whenever a
proceeding is being conducted by ACT, except for extraordinary circumstances, such as
when court properties have been closed due to inclement weather or other emergency
under Pa.R.J.A. Nos. 1950-1954, or when a proceeding is not being conducted during
normal business hours.
Justice Donohue notes her dissent.
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA
EASTERN DISTRICT
IN RE: FIRST JUDICIAL DISTRICT OF
PENNSYLVANIA
: No. 21 EM 2020
:
:
ORDER
