1. Kim  Berkeley  Clark,  President  Judge  of  the  Fifth  Judicial  District,  having 
previously declared a judicial emergency in the District through August 31, 
2021, hereby requests the following relief by Order of the Pennsylvania 
Supreme Court: 

a.  Authorize  the  President  Judge  to  extend  the  current  judicial 
emergency in the Fifth Judicial District and take the actions listed 
below  in  paragraph  b  as  authorized  by  Pa.R.J.A.  No.  1925(B)  (2) 
through October 1, 2021. 

.  Suspend or modify statewide procedural or administrative rules in 

this judicial district as follows: 

  b

 

1)  Suspend application of Pennsylvania Rule of Criminal Procedure 
600  through  October  1,  2021,  to  the  extent  consistent  with 
constitutional limitations. 

2)  Suspend application of the Pennsylvania Rules regarding the use 
of  Advanced  Communication 
to 
constitutional  limitations  provided  that  judges  and  judicial 
officers are present in court facilities during the proceedings. 

Technology 

subject 

  

2. The  circumstances  necessitating  this  request  for  an  emergency  judicial 
order are those related to the existing COVID-19 public health emergency 
in the District.   
 

a.  There has been a significant increase in COVID-19 cases over the 

 

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA 
 
WESTERN DISTRICT 
 
: 
: 
: 
:  No. 23 WM 2020 
: 
: 

 

 
 
IN RE:   
FIFTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT 
REQUEST FOR EMERGENCY 
JUDICIAL ORDER 
 
 

 

past month in the District. 

b.  The  CDC 

level  of  community  transmission  classification 

in 
Allegheny County increased from substantial to high during week 
of August 14, 2021.  See CDC COVID Data Tracker; 

c.  The number of COVID-19 cases in the County continues to increase 
weekly.    During  the  week  of  June  20,  2021,  there  were  70 
confirmed cases, an average of 10 cases per day compared to the 
week of August 8, 2021, during which there were 969 confirmed 
cases of COVID-19, an average of 138 cases per day.  Most recently, 
on  August  25,  2021,  there  were  318  new  cases,  196  confirmed 
cases  and  122  probable  cases  for  that  day  alone.  There  is  no 
indication that the present rate of cases will abate in the near term.      
See 
Department/Resources/COVID-19/COVID-19-Dashboards.aspx; 
d.  Consistent with the rest of the community, the Allegheny County 
Jail is also experiencing an increase in COVID-19 cases.  In July there 
were two positive cases out of 92 tests and the positive cases were 
transferred from other jurisdictions.  As of August 23, 2021,  110 
persons who have currently tested positive are in the facility. See 
https://www.alleghenycounty.us/jail/index.aspx; 

https://www.alleghenycounty.us/Health-

e.  The  increase  in  COVID-19  cases  in  the  Allegheny  County  Jail  has 
resulted  in  a  further  delay  in  some  court  proceedings,  due  to 
quarantine  of  inmates  and  transportation  issues.    In-person 
proceedings cannot occur for those who have tested positive or for 
those who are quarantined. 

f.  In  2018  and  2019  there  were  116  and  108  jury  trials  held  in  the 
Criminal Division.  In 2020, due to the restrictions necessitated by 
the pandemic, there were only 19 jury trials held in the Criminal 
Division.  In 2021, to date, there have been 21 jury trials held in the 
Criminal Division.  While the Division is trying as many jury trials as 
possible,  unfortunately,  the  backlog  of  jury  trials  is  high  and  the 
rising  number  of  COVID  cases  is  likely  to  make  it  difficult  to 
continue trying jury trials at the current pace. 

g.  The Fifth Judicial District implemented a masking policy for court 
users  regardless  of  vaccination  status  and  court  employees  on 
August 8, 2021. 

  

______________________________ 
Kim Berkeley Clark, President Judge 

ated: ________________________ 

  D

3. To the extent  possible and practical under the circumstances, notice of 

this request for an emergency judicial order has been or will be: 

  posted on the Fifth Judicial District’s website 
  submitted to the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts for 
publication  pursuant  to  Rule  of  Judicial  Administration  No. 
1952(C)(5) 

4. Interested parties are advised that objections to any emergency judicial 
order issued by the Supreme Court should be transmitted to the Supreme 
Court Prothonotary.