SPRINGFIELD — The state’s highest court issued new rules last week to help courts transition to remote hearings for criminal cases as the pandemic continues to disrupt court operations statewide.
Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Anne Burke said the order “provides guidance for our courts to address the backlog of criminal cases created by the COVID-19 pandemic,” in a statement.
Courthouses shut their doors last March, allowing only essential matters to be held in-person and temporarily halting jury trials in criminal and civil cases and affecting criminal defendants’ right to a speedy trial.
In May, the Illinois Supreme Court issued an order that directed circuit courts to return to normal operations on June 1 and gave local judges discretion to allow for remote or in-person hearings.
In-person civil and criminal jury trials have slowly resumed with social distancing and other public health guidelines in place in nearly all counties, except Cook County where in-person jury trials are still on hold.
The Feb. 11 order states that certain criminal hearings, such as initial appearances or non-substantive status hearings, can be held remotely, even if the person charged with a crime objects to a remote hearing.
Other hearings, such as sentencing hearings or hearings where a plea of guilty will be entered, must be conducted in-person unless the person charged with a crime agrees to participate remotely, according to the order.
Bench trials, where a judge decides the verdict instead of a jury, can be held remotely if the person charged consents in writing and the judge finds that doing so will not jeopardize the integrity of the trial process.
However, the order does not allow for remote jury trials under any circumstances.
The new rules contained within the order were proposed by Illinois Supreme Court’s Court Operations During COVID-19 Task Force, which formed in June in response to challenges caused by the pandemic. The February order only applies to criminal cases where a person could face jail as a penalty.
Richard Kling, clinical law professor at Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago-Kent College of Law and a criminal defense attorney, said the latest order is the court’s attempt to balance the necessity of conducting criminal hearings and trials with the safety concerns of COVID-19.
“The bottom line is if you can't get jurors because they won't come in or they can't sit safely, or you can't get witnesses who won't come in or can’t testify safely, you have to do something and that's essentially what the Supreme Court did (with its order),” he said.
This new guidance expands the court’s order from May that paused what is known as the speedy trial law, which affords a person charged with a crime the right to a trial by jury within a certain time period after arrest, generally 120 days.
A criminal defendant’s right to a speedy trial is codified in Illinois statute, and is contained in the Illinois constitution. Defendants who are held in jail beyond the timeframe allowed under the speedy trial law without being given a trial must be released from custody.
The Illinois Supreme Court’s May order paused the speedy trial clock retroactively from March 20. For criminal defendants who have been in jail since that time, the order excludes the past 11 months from the timeframe by which the defendant is allotted under the speedy trial law.
Chief Judge Eugene Doherty of the 17th Judicial Circuit said the latest order “gives some relief” to defendants who may be unable to have an in-person jury trial.
“What the Supreme Court's rule makes clear is that you can do a (criminal) trial by bench in a remote setting,” Doherty, who is vice-chair of the task force, said in a phone interview. “So, that's one additional option that might allow somebody to go to trial that couldn't go to trial if the remote option were not available.”
Doherty said this order is one of the more important developments from the COVID-19 task force.
“This recent rule, which is a temporary COVID rule, represents, I believe, an effort to clearly define what the rules of the road are with respect to remote hearings in criminal proceedings,” Doherty said.
Still, Kling said the Illinois Supreme Court’s May order has essentially paused the speedy trial clock “indefinitely” for criminal defendants who are jailed awaiting trial.
The question of whether the court has the authority to indefinitely pause a criminal defendant’s right to a speedy trial will continue to be debated, Kling said.
“I am positive, that for years to come, defendants who have had trials postponed (by the May order) are going to be filing motions to dismiss those cases,” he said. “This isn't going be over for a long time.”
What has Illinois done wrong in vaccine rollout? Lawmakers question state officials
Why was Illinois ranked so low on per capita vaccine distribution?
Illinois was among the worst states in vaccine distribution, The New York Times reported. Friend said the state lagged because it decided to stay in its first phase longer before expanding eligibility.
The state has since improved to where it is distributing doses faster than they arrive from the federal government, he said.
Between the possible approval later this month of a Johnson & Johnson vaccine and President Joe Biden's decision to invoke the Defense Production Act to ramp up production, Friend said he expects to see increased production.
State Sen. Jason Plummer, a Republican from Edwardsville, said IDPH officials didn't address all of his concerns about transparency during the hearing.
"The Pritzker Administration and its representatives have yet again refused to prioritize the people of this state by refusing to answer the numerous questions that remain regarding the failures of Illinois' COVID-19 vaccination rollout," he said.
State Sen. Julie Morrison, chair of the Senate Health Committee, said she plans to call another hearing in a few weeks.
Why can't local health departments plan better for how many vaccines they'll have?
Prior to Biden taking office, states received last-minute notice of the doses they'd receive each week, making it difficult to share information with local health departments.
Those local agencies for now are some of the only places people can book appointments as hospitals and pharmacies await doses directly from the federal government and build up their infrastructure. In order for health departments to use doses effectively, they need to be able to plan in advance.
Biden promised in January his administration would give states a three-week forecast of the minimum amount of doses they could expect. Using that information, Illinois started sending forecasts to local health departments statewide Thursday, Ezike said.
State Sen. John Curran, a Republican from the Chicago suburb Woodridge, complained that those forecasts weren't available for public review. IDPH provides information online about each county's vaccine inventory, but the site doesn't specify how much each county received per week and its available data could be delayed by as much as 72 hours.
John Wagner, Monroe County Health Department administrator, agreed with Curran.
"There's not a fair distribution of vaccine across the state," Wagner said. "I would really like to see IDPH post their weekly allocation of vaccine. Certain areas are getting far more than other areas. Some areas are finishing 1B, getting down to 65, and I'm still on my 75-plus-year-olds."
How does the state decide how many vaccines to send where each week?
Illinois distributes vaccines based on county population, the impact of the virus and with an "equity-centric" lens. But Curran said it needed to be clearer how the state was taking equity into consideration.
Black and Brown Illinoisans are more likely to become seriously ill or die from COVID-19, according to IDPH. The equity approach will also focus on people who live in rural communities with limited access to internet or transportation, Friend said, adding that he would take Curran's suggestion back to his team.
Can a local health department make its own rules?
Yes. A health department can decide to follow the state's guidelines or it can choose to move more slowly through the phases. For instance, St. Clair County at first decided that in addition to those in Phase 1A, it would only allow people 75 and older to receive the vaccine. Slowing the phases limits the amount of people demanding or expecting an appointment and also allows departments to focus on at-risk populations.
The city of Chicago, meanwhile, receives shipments directly from the federal government. The city can use those direct shipments as health officials choose. They decided not to expand eligibility to people with disabilities and high-risk health conditions on Feb. 25, as recommended by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, because they were still working on the initial phases.
Are people in previous phases still eligible?
Yes. Vaccine providers should still prioritize people in the first phases, even if those individuals didn't want to get the vaccine at first and changed their min
Why are inmates being vaccinated at the same time as the elderly and others?
State health officials say jails and prisons are hotspots for the virus that can seep into the community.
Republican lawmakers expressed frustration during the hearing that incarcerated people might get the vaccine before other priority groups. The virus spreads rapidly in group living settings such as prisons and nursing homes, and it affects employees as much as it does people living there. Health officials say employees not only suffer from the virus themselves, but can spread the virus in the community. Corrections workers were eligible under Phase 1B.
The state will start vaccinating employees and inmates Tuesday at the East Moline Correctional Center and will expand the program to other locations later next week, Friend said. The Illinois National Guard will assist.
State Sen. Terri Bryant, a Republican from Murphysboro, said she would liked to have seen more detailed information from the governor's office on "why he prioritized inmates over more vulnerable people with comorbidities."
Vaccinating inmates as well as employees is sound public health policy, said Democratic state Sen. Robert Peters of Chicago, because even people who have been vaccinated could still carry and spread the disease.
When will we know more about vaccine rollout in Black and Brown communities?
IDPH wants to release data about the vaccine rollout in communities disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, Friend said. The information should include details similar to those available for coronavirus cases and deaths in those areas, he added. He did not provide a timeline for when the data would be available.
