COURTS CLOSED MONDAY

Court's are closed in  Miami Dade County Monday in the first observance of the new federal Juneteenth holiday.  Congress passed the bill Thursday afternoon and President Biden signed it and Judge Soto closed courts...exactly in that order. 

Now that courts are closed, lets talk about courts opening. Lots of Amin  rumors flying around, and we have posted the new 21-1 admin order. Lets take a look. 

THE REGJB OPENS JUNE 28, 2021. Lets gather on the steps and pop champagne! 

TO ZOOM OR NOT TO ZOOM? That is the question. Whether it is nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous judicial orders or to take arms against a sea of zoom litigants and by opposing them end zoom. To die- to Zoom no more and by Zoom we say to end the heartache and hassle of driving hours for a five minute hearing ...  

Now it gets tricky. If you have a zoom notice after June 28 you must appear by Zoom even if courts are open. Unless...there are less than two outs and there is a pop fly in the infield that in the judgment of the umpire can be caught and there are runners on first and second or first and second and third. Then the runner is automatically out and you do NOT have to appear by zoom. 

MASKS? You do NOT have to wear a mask. But you should. Variants....

HEARINGS....This is simple. If you have a hearing that is 20 minutes or less but can be done in ten, or you have a hearing that is one hour or less but will probably take longer, or you have indicated that you have a hearing less than 20 minutes but it takes an hour, or you have a civil case on any odd numbered floor...then you should notice the hearing for zoom and you may also appear in person and use zoom on your phone while standing in the hallway, but you cannot show up in court, unless there are less than two outs and two runners on base. See the appendix to the orders for more simple illustrations of this sort. 

Here is what appears to be the guiding principle, taken from the Broward Handbook on how to treat lawyers: "If it would be more convenient and practical to hold a hearing on zoom...the hearing will be live, especially if lawyers are inconvenienced. If it makes a lot of sense to do a hearing in person then the court MAY consider holding the hearing either in zoom or in person with a preference for the Judge ordering the least logical and most inconvenient option so the judge can remember why they worked so hard to become a judge and thus stop having to deal with judges who make everyone else's lives miserable."

1-21-11 Ao Covid-19 Health and Safety Protocols by HR on Scribd