Courts & COVID-19
The Superior Court issued its most recent Standing Order to update its protocols governing court operations during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This standing order takes effect on July 12, 2021, and contains the following key provisions governing jury trials, bench trials, and court operations.
Supreme Judicial Court fourth-order regarding public access to state courthouses & court facilities. This Order applies to all persons seeking entry to a Massachusetts state courthouse or other state court facility, including a probation office
The SJC issued an order for all courts to be closed except to conduct emergency matters. The Juvenile Court issued standing orders (with updated dates here) on the implementation of that rule, impacting child welfare, delinquency/Youthful Offender and Child Requiring Assistance cases. The SJC issued a ruling (summarized here) on reducing the number of individuals held on pre-trial detention and for violations of probation CPCS/MACDL v. Chief of the Trial Courts.
Emergency matters shall be moved to video or telephone conferencing, or postponed to a date after May 4th, and include:
Care & Protection temporary custody 72-hour hearings
Delinquency/Youthful Offender arraignments, dangerousness (58A) hearings, and bail reconsideration for detained youth
Runaway Child Requiring Assistance
Non-emergency matters shall be postponed to after June 6th, and include:
Delinquency/Youthful Offender probable cause hearings and summons arraignments
All other Child Requiring Assistance, adoption, and Care & Protection matters
The SJC issued an order limiting the imposition of GPS monitoring as a condition of release unless there is a compelling public safety reason. Affixing a GPS requires that a probation officer is in physical proximity to the person they are affixing it, presenting a health risks to both. The order made exceptions in 5 types of offenses where the charges qualify as a compelling public safety reason: (1) a sexually violent offense or a sex offense involving a child; (2) assault or assault and battery on a family or household member; (3) strangulation or suffocation; (4) violation of an abuse prevention order or a protection order issued by another jurisdiction; (5) stalking