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Law360 (March 23, 2021, 3:59 PM EDT) -- Texas' Chief Supreme Court Justice Nathan Hecht said remote options for court proceedings are here to stay and laid out other policy priorities for the judiciary — such as bail and juvenile justice reform — in his State of the Judiciary address Tuesday afternoon.
Hecht said an "unexpected benefit" of switching to remote proceedings last year was increased participation in the justice system. According to Hecht, appearance rose from roughly 80% no-shows to 80% participation.
Remote proceedings are more efficient and cost-effective, Hecht said. Previously, many factors could impede a litigant's participation in a courtroom, such as lack of transportation or the inability to take time off work.
"But with remote proceedings, going to court is as easy as clicking a link or dialing a number on a smartphone," Hecht said.
"We must bring lessons learned in the pandemic to the new normal," Hecht added, noting that the Supreme Court had established a working group to create best practices for remote proceedings. He also asked the state legislature to update Texas statutes to reflect virtual options in state courts.
Though no instances of spreading have been reported in Texas courts, the Eastern District of Texas had an outbreak in November in which 15 trial participants tested positive. Earlier this month the Supreme Court eased COVID-19 restrictions, giving local presiding judges more decision-making power on in-person proceedings.
"As vaccinations increase, so will the number of jury trials. And soon," Hecht said.
Hecht also noted that jury trial dockets have remained backlogged amid the pandemic, and he said that at its current capacity the judiciary would take three years to catch up. He asked the legislature to fund resources for courts to allow safe in-person jury trials and visiting judges to help decongest dockets.
Hecht also outlined a number of other legislative priorities for the judiciary, such as juvenile justice and reforming the "bail crisis." He suggested a constitutional amendment to allow judges to deny bail for high-risk defendants and take into account a person's criminal history to determine if defendants may qualify for pretrial supervision.
The current system allows potentially dangerous defendants with more resources to await trial outside a jail cell while incarcerating low-risk defendants who can't afford bail.
"It's wrong to lock people up only because they are poor," Hecht said. "It offends basic notions of liberty and humanity. And its dangerous to release defendants only because they can afford bail."
Finally, Hecht said the justice system would begin collected data and "self reflect" on potential racial biases in the justice system that were highlighted during the summer protests following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
"The justice system faces a far worse disease than COVID-19, a disease that is not novel, but all too chronic and familiar: The disease of racial prejudice," he said.
--Editing by Peter Rozovsky.
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