COVID ZOOM UPDATE

 From: The Miami Dade State Attorneys Office Human Resources and Covid Cop

To: The Miami Legal Community

Covid Update:

We have one employee who is not covid positive (yet, but give us time). That employee remains huddled in her office surrounded by vats of bleach, ultraviolet light, and sixteen N95 masks. The rest of the state attorney's office employees are positive and have visited every courtroom in South Florida, every bathroom of every building and every room in every courthouse  EXCEPT for the janitor's closet on nine in the REGJB. We recommend all court hearings be held in the closet until further notice. Thank you. 

Rather than continually clog up our email inbox, wouldn't the above email make more sense considering that the SAO is issuing a dozen or so updates a day. We get it- the entire non-mask wearing office is infected. 

Meanwhile, Judge Wolfson is taking the Delta variant seriously which means two things: first she is smart and understands  the science and is committed to protecting staff, lawyers, clients and the public. And second, because of point one, she will never ever ever get any appointment to any higher court by this or any Republican governor for the rest of her career for being smart and following the science and protecting people over her career. Shame on her. 

From Judge Wolfson: 

This afternoon we had our weekly meeting of the Criminal Jury Trial Task Force. Based on the dire information that was provided by representatives from the State Attorney’s Office and Public Defender’s Office, I have decided to execute the attached amendment to the Administrative Memorandum regarding Hybrid Court Operations. It states as follows:

 

Effective immediately, ALL ATTORNEYS may choose to appear either in person or on Zoom. Each operating courtroom will continue to be staffed with an in person Assistant Public Defender, in addition to the judge, court clerk, bailiff, probation officer (optional) and correctional officer(s). Inmates will be brought to court only for hearings, trials, and very few pleas only with the judge’s express approval. As stated previously, if an inmate was not transported but wishes to accept a plea that will result in them getting out of custody, Corrections will bring them on Zoom on a staggered basis. If there is a surplus of inmate Zoom hearings on any one particular day, Judges Wolfson, de la O, and Tinkler Mendez will make themselves available to handle them. Interpreters will be appearing via Zoom unless needed for an in-person hearing, trial, or the types of pleas referenced above. As of this date, all other normal court operations will remain unchanged.

 

In addition, for the judges – in the previous Administrative Memo where it advises people to mute their devices during Zoom proceedings, this does NOT apply to judges. You should have yourself on video and unmuted during your daily calendars, unless you go off the record for some reason.

 

Lastly, thank you all so much for your flexibility during this extremely difficult and challenging time. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me at any time.

 

Best regards,

 

Andrea Ricker Wolfson,