Presiding Judge Closes L.A. Superior Court for Three Days
LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Presiding L.A. Superior Court Judge Kevin C. Brazile says that starting today, every courthouse and courtroom will be closed to the public from until March 19th for a total of three court days, then reopen on Friday for the limited purpose of hearing or handling essential or emergency matters in criminal, civil, probate, family law and dependency/juvenile cases.
"The Superior Court of Los Angeles County is committed to providing equal access to justice through the fair, timely and efficient resolution of all cases," Brazille said in a statement.
"However, it is imperative that we continue aligning our Court with the most recent directives and guidelines issued by our national, state and local public health officials. Let me be clear: we will continue to serve the needs of the most vulnerable people in Los Angeles County -- our children, the elderly, domestic violence victims, people whose life and liberty interests are at stake, and in many other emergent cases as is possible and safe."
Over the next few days, there will be additional news releases explaining in further detail the extent to which the Los Angeles Superior Court is reducing and scaling back judicial and court resources in response to the current public health crisis.
On Friday, Brazile called for a 30-day delay of all new civil jury trials. He also said criminal jury trials should be pushed back by 30 days, in cases where the defendants have agreed to the delay.
Brazile also called on the court to limit requests for new jurors for the next month, "due to concerns about juror availability."
