Courts to reopen as NC chief justice prepares new COVID order and replaces top staff
In his first week as chief justice, Paul Newby’s administration has replaced top officials in North Carolina’s court system and is moving forward with reopening courts that have been closed in response to the pandemic.
After being sworn in during a virtual Jan. 6 ceremony as the 30th chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court, Newby signaled he planned to reopen courts.
“That is a constitutional requirement, ” he said. “Certainly open courts available for all of citizens is not a luxury, it’s a mandate.”
Figuring out how to keep court personnel safe and the courts open is the “great stress of our times,” he said.
Newby, 65, a Republican, beat Cheri Beasley, a Democrat who was appointed by Gov. Roy Cooper, in a tight race that ended after a hand count of votes.
Democrats had held a 6-1 majority over the state’s high court, but that majority narrowed to 4-3 after the November elections.
Newby has also asked Cooper to enhance the availability of the vaccine to courthouse personnel, but is moving forward with reopening courts regardless of the response.
A preview of his order, set to go into effect Thursday, was distributed Monday.
Courts can reopen
The order states Newby is allowing Beasley’s Dec. 14 order to expire. Beasley’s order had stopped all but essential business in all state courts for 30 days, citing the recent spike in coronavirus cases.
Since Dec. 14, the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases and the number of people hospitalized both have increased by about 45%.
The order gives local judicial districts decision-making authority over when and how to conduct jury trials and other in-person proceedings. The order suggests court officials consult with local health directors and look at other state and local orders.
“I ask that local judicial officials and employees conduct trials and other proceedings and perform other courthouse functions with caution and with due regard for the COVID-19 situation in their respective judicial districts,” the order states.
Newby is extending some other COVID-related orders, including requiring face masks in courthouses and allowing virtual court hearings.
The changes would allow counties to move forward with jury trials, which many postponed to 2021 due to previous court closures and the pandemic.
Wake County had one criminal jury trial before the courts ceased nonessential services, and Durham County plans to start a criminal jury trial in coming days.
Response by defense attorneys to the order was mixed. Some have been asking for courts to reopen, while others want to wait until the vaccine is available to court personnel or the number of new COVID-19 cases fall, attorneys said in interviews.
Paige Feldmann, a defense attorney who practices in Wake County, is concerned about the health risks, but she also has clients who are pushing for their cases to get resolved so they can get jobs and apartments.
“I have mixed feelings,” she said.
Durham attorney Daniel Meier said he wishes courts would limit services for another month. Meier said defense attorneys are at a high risk for catching COVID-19, he said, pointing out the challenges of social distancing in court when you need to share and receive confidential information from a client.
“We are at record highs,” he said. “Give us another 30 days and see where we are.”
At the same time, Meier’s case load has more than doubled due to the backlog during the pandemic. His court-appointed cases have gone from 120 to 280, he said.
“Ultimately, personal safety matters a lot more,” he said.
AOC top officials forced out
On Friday, the Administrative Office of the Courts announced Newby appointed Andrew T. Heath as the new director of the agency that oversees administrative services for the state’s judicial branch. The agency has about 6,400 employees and manages hundreds of courthouses and other facilities across the state.
Heath moved to the position after serving as a special superior court judge who was appointed by then-Gov. Pat McCrory in December 2016, McCrory’s last month in office after losing to Cooper.
The Republican governor had named Heath chairman of the Industrial Commission in 2013 and then budget director in 2016.
As director of AOC, Heath replaced McKinley Wooten Jr., who Beasley appointed in March 2020 after he served as interim director for a year. Wooten was the first African American to serve in the position.
Prior to that, Wooten was deputy secretary for the N.C. Department of Administration for seven years and spent nearly two years as inspector general before that, according to his LinkedIn profile.
The same day that Heath’s appointment was announced, he sent a memorandum to AOC employees announcing changes in top leadership effective Monday.
The appointments pushed out Wooten, Deputy Director Danielle Carman, General Counsel Tina Krasner, legislative liaison Andrew Simpson, and Organizational Learning and Development head Mildred Spearman, according to a state-employee database and LinkedIn profiles.
While some of those individuals had been at the agency for years, they had all been appointed to their current position by Beasley, said Sharon Gladwell, a spokesperson for AOC.
“The transition occurred in leadership positions such as you would expect when any leader of a branch of government wins an election,” she wrote in an email.
Heath’s memo indicated that Ryan Boyce would lead Court Programs and Services and Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs.
Boyce served as legal counsel for AOC for two years ending in August 2019, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Trey Allen, a professor at UNC School of Government, will serve as general counsel.
Heath wrote that he hopes to announce who will become the Organizational Learning and Development Division head in coming days.
Maureen Wingfield will serve as administrative officer supporting the Research, Policy, and Planning Division, the memo states.
