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THE LEGAL BRIEF
VOLUME 40, ISSUE 3
A View From The Bench
By Judge Mary Sue Wilson Thurston County Superior Court
Covid and Court Operations – Entering Year Three
“ Thank you for your patience! ” For the last two years, this is the phrase I most commonly use in court.
Why? Most often, I use this phrase in response to a delay, typically due to a technology issue. For example, I am hearing a Friday civil motions calendar. Three or four people are in the courtroom and a dozen or so parties, lawyers, and observers are participating by ZOOM. To make each hearing meaningful for all participants and to ensure a quality court record, all participants must be able to hear each speaker. A participant begins to address the court. Their WiFi connection is weak and their presentation is interrupted: we cannot hear them at all or we can only hear every third word. My stop sign hand goes up and I suggest possible actions that might fix the issue. When the speaker ’ s connection improves (as it usually does), I direct them back to where they were when they were interrupted, and the hearing resumes. An interruption may last two minutes, or it may last 20 minutes. On rare occasions, if the issue is not resolved, the court may continue the hearing. In our early days of relying on remote participation in court hearings, such interruptions were more common. Over the last two years, the judges, court staff, and court participants have learned a lot - our ability to troubleshoot technology issues has grown. However, our technologies are not perfect. On any given court day, Wifi signals (or power outages or weather events or a Covid outbreak) conspire to interfere with our goal of conducting meaningful court hearings! Most of the time, the issue is efficiently addressed and we resume and complete the hearing. A takeaway: as you prepare to come to your hearing, develop a plan for troubleshooting issues associated with your device and connection so you are ready if you experience a technology problem. And, of course, you may choose to come to court in person – we will be glad to see you! Speaking of Covid, as this winter ’ s wave declined, the Superior Court implemented changes to our operations in March – in the direction of relaxing certain protocols based on input from Thurston County Public Health. At the Main Campus Courthouse (building 2) our traffic flow in and out of the building returned to a two - way entry/exit flow (visitors come in and out of the same door as they did before Covid). In all of our courthouses, we reduced the required social distancing from six feet to three feet and we stopped “ strongly encouraging ” remote participation in those hearings with ZOOM access. ZOOM participation remains an option for many calendars. Absent a court order requiring a specific mode of appearance, participants may choose which option (in person or ZOOM) works best for them for proceedings with ZOOM access. Before the pandemic, our courtrooms were often crowded at the beginning of busy calendars. Participants might wait for more than two hours before their case was called. A party might miss a half day of work to participate in a 10 - minute hearing. With remote calendars and time - specific sessions, we ’ ve eliminated crowds and reduced waiting times. We have not yet decided our long - term plans for using remote participation on specific court calendars. Many participants tell us they appreciate the convenience and efficiencies of remote options. Others prefer to come to court in person. At a recent statewide judicial conference, judges from around the state said they would likely continue to support remote hearing participation for specific types of hearings after the pandemic. The Thurston County Superior Court judges will continue to evaluate approaches that promote access, while at the same time allow us to ensure that each hearing is meaningful.
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