COVID-19 and military justice (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces)

United States Court of Appeals

for the Armed Forces

Washington, D.C.

In Re:

CONDUCT OF THE JUNE                                            NOTICE
HEARINGS BY
TELECONFERENCE

          By Order of the Court dated April 2, 2020, and by hearing notices pertaining to the individual cases, the five hearings previously scheduled for April 20-22 were rescheduled for June 2-4, 2020.

          The COVID-19 public health crisis continues to impact persons and places and the overall conduct of operations by courts and other instrumentalities of government. The Court takes very seriously its responsibility to the public, the bar and the Court’s staff.

          As June approaches, a plan is in place for the conduct of the hearings at the courthouse on a social distancing-compliant basis.

          However, the Court has determined that the more prudent course is to set conditions to conduct the hearings by teleconference and is taking measures to have that in place for June. A final decision on the manner of conducting the hearings will be made and published not later than Monday, May 18, 2020, at which point the Clerk will coordinate with counsel sitting first chair in these cases to effectuate the teleconference hearing or provide guidance on the social distancing protocols in effect if an in-person hearing is conducted.

          The Court thanks the bar and specifically the parties in the impacted cases for their continued flexibility and forbearance in the scheduling and conduct of these hearings.

                                                                                    For the Court,

                                                                              /s/ Joseph R. Perlak
                                                                                    Clerk of the Court

May 5, 2020