Chief Justice of North Carolina discusses future of state's court system
I am so grateful to you and all of the
staff at the North Carolina Bar Association for making it
possible for me to bring you the state of the
judiciary address even though we cannot come together in person
for our usual summer conference
I'd also like to congratulate Mark on Hiss ascension to
the be the 126 president of the North Carolina Bar
Association
I'd also like to recognize my colleagues on the Supreme
Court Justice Paul Newby Justice Robin Hudson Justice Sam J
Over in the fourth Justice Michael Morgan Justice Anita Earls
and Justice Mark Davis along with Chief Judge McGee and
the members of the Court of Appeals
These are indeed unprecedented times
The Cove in 19 Pandemic has presented challenges that the
modern judiciary on our courts have never before faced and
calls for racial justice have gripped the nation's attention
But challenging times also present opportunities Cove in 19 has
required us to think creatively about improving the administration of
justice in ways that even a year ago seemed impossible
The demonstrations happening in North Carolina and across the nation
have given us the opportunity to confront disparities in our
justice system and ensure that the people of this state
have trust and confidence that courts are a place where
every case is decided based on principles of law and
justice free from bias
And so while this is truly an unprecedented and stressful
time for our entire judicial branch and for the bar
it is also an immensely hopeful time
The covert 19 pandemic remains a grave concern for our
state and for our court system
I know that reduced operations of our courts have been
difficult for you and for your clients
But the's necessary steps have reduced the risk of illness
for our court personnel and for the public
I am so grateful and proud of the way that
our judicial officials all across the state have responded to
this crisis with a spirit of tenacity and resilience that
is truly inspiring
While in person proceedings have been limited our courts have
remained open
We continue to carry out our constitutional functions as fully
as possible while carefully balancing the need to protect the
public health and safety
Even with dramatically reduced stuff unlimited resources local courts have
handled more than 20,000 cases a week all across North
Carolina says the pandemic began
Since June 1st courts have begun hearing a greater number
of cases in person and I know that many of
you are deeply concerned about the risk of coming to
court
Remote hearings remained the safest way to conduct court business
and I urge you to handle as many matters as
possible remotely through WebEx
Under my emergency directives courtrooms have been marked for social
distancing and court calendars are more limited in number
Our partners and county government have installed plexiglass barriers and
provided cleaning services and hand sanitizer
Judges clerks bailiffs attorneys court reporters and others have implemented
safety measures and adjusted operations to keep the public as
safe as possible
Governor Cooper has helped to secure critically needed P p
E and I am so excited that in partnership with
his administration we will soon have cloth masks to give
Teoh anyone who comes to court without a face covering
While we cannot completely eliminate the risk of exposure we
know that each of these safety measures reduces the risk
of infection for everyone in the courthouse
When they are all implemented together we can significantly increase
the likelihood that our staff and you stay safe
Unfortunately despite these efforts we have already had more than
a dozen court system judges and employees Contract Cove in
19 and hundreds of others have endured the stress and
anxiety of known exposures in their work polices
We're praying for the speedy recovery of those who are
sick and for the continued health of those who may
have been exposed
When someone in our court facility contracts covert 19 the
operations of the entire court are jeopardized sessions of court
must be cancelled staff are sent to be tested and
quarantined facilities must be sanitized
The on leeway to avoid these disruptions is to make
sure that anyone visiting a local court facility takes the
simple steps to help keep all of our state staff
safe and our courts operating
Sanitize your hands as you enter where face covering and
maintain social distancing while you're in the building
The pandemic has also caused a delay in jury trials
a step that has not been taken lightly
Jury trials are a bedrock principle of our system of
government but they're also presenting unique safety challenges
Additional space is needed to socially distance jurors and potential
jurors tend to be older and at higher risk of
serious complications if they contract covert 19
While we have every hope that will be able to
resume jury trials beginning in August we will only do
so if we can do that safely
I've appointed a covert 19 task force co chaired by
senior resident Superior Court Judge Don Bridges and Chief District
Court Judge J
Chorpenning which has worked tirelessly for weeks to compile best
practices case priority guidelines innovations in court case and docket
management and resiliency tools for court personnel which will be
distributed toe all court personnel and available on the N
C
Courts website They have done such tremendous work on
I know that the entire judicial branch joins me in
extending our deepest thanks toa all of the members of
the task force
As we move forward through this public health crisis together
I am confident we will discover even more innovations that
will help us protect the public and make our court
operations more efficient far into the future
Virtual hearings Teleconference to Calendar calls Times Certain scheduling and
improved court date notifications and reminders are just a few
examples of the ways that our court system is becoming
more efficient as we respond to the pandemic
As part of our E quartz initiative Web X has
allowed our courts to conduct thousands of hearings remotely during
the pandemic
And both the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court
of North Carolina have held all arguments via WebEx
And despite the strains on our resources thes last few
months our contract with Tyler Technologies for a complete overhaul
of our 30 year DOS based computer system continues to
meet its targets for an anticipated launch next year
The pandemic has made clear to us that all of
the operating systems that are paper based in the 21st
century is simply not acceptable
Every year more than 13 million individual patient pages of
paper are added to state court files and more than
four miles of shelving are needed to store them
Clark's of Superior Court are forced to use addicts basements
and offsite storage further decreasing efficiency and adding unnecessary costs
to our court system
R E courts initiative will change that Elektronik filing online
access to court records better data and case management and
overall improved efficiencies to our judicial branch will benefit businesses
and the public
Our business court has shown how important these improvements in
access and efficiency are for our business climate in North
Carolina
It is vital that we continue to move forward with
this project and I appreciate the support of the legislative
leaders leadership for their commitment to provide the necessary funding
The support of the bar association has been critical to
our efforts and I think all of you for your
continued advocacy
I am deeply committed to a court system that lives
up to the highest ideals and expectations of the people
it serves
These improved technologies will help to ensure that our courts
are transparent accessible and efficient
But technology updates are far from our only need
When Chief Justice Martin convened the Commission on the Administration
of Law and Justice just a few years ago a
majority of North Carolinians said they locked faith and confidence
in our system
We have born witness to the outward expression of those
frustrations
As people all over North Carolina and the nation have
come together in protests over the last month too many
people believe that the system works against them too many
people believe that justice is rendered with bias
Too many people feel left behind in a system that
is unwilling to change
Their beliefs are grounded in their experiences
They have seen and felt the difference in their own
lives
Lady justice is blind but our courts cannot be
We cannot close our eyes to the disparities that exist
or look the other way while we wait for someone
else to bring change to our courtrooms
We must be willing to do the painstaking work of
introspection and reflection
We must be willing to acknowledge that disparities exist despite
our best efforts at rooting them out
We must be willing to look critically at
The results are system Brazil produces and we must have
honest constructive conversations about whether those results are truly just
And if not we must set about even the more
difficult work of change
I'm cited about working with our elected officials all across
the state who are committed to this important work dozens
of whom have reached out to me in recent weeks
to express their commitment to improving the administration of justice
and North Carolina
We are returning to the work of the Commission of
the Administration of Law and Justice which made a number
of important recommendations to help shore up public trust and
confidence and our justice system
Many of those recommendations were directly aimed at reducing racial
and ethnic disparities created or perpetuated by our justice system
like raised the age which finally allowed North Carolina to
join every other state in the nation in making the
important decision not to charge Children as adults in our
court system
An important component of that effort is the creation of
school justice partnerships which invite local schools law enforcement judicial
officials and others to think transformative li about handling misbehavior
and minor disciplinary issues in our schools
Since last August our chief District Court judges have worked
tirelessly to implement local school justice partnerships and I am
proud to report that 26 North Carolina counties now have
partnerships in place with dozens more in the planning stages
By coming together in this way we will keep thousands
of Children in the classroom instead of sending them to
a courtroom
Yesterday Governor Cooper signed the second Chance Act into Law
which fills the gaps in the implementation of raise the
age and puts North Carolina on a path toward automatically
clearing criminal criminal records for folks who were never convicted
of a crime in partnership with the Criminal Justice Innovation
Lab the Justice Center and district attorneys all across North
Carolina we will soon put this important legislation into action
setting hundreds of young people back on a clear path
to success
The commission also recommended that the judicial branch began pilot
programs to improve our system of pretrial release through evidence
based practices that have been endorsed by the American Bar
Association the National Sheriff's Association and the Association of Prosecuting
Attorneys and Others
The initial results are promising and show that we can
keep communities safe while ensuring that no one is detained
retrial just because they are too poor to pay even
a relatively low bond
Far too often these defendants spend more time in jail
awaiting trial than they could ever receive If found guilty
of the offence let me be clear
These reform efforts do not simply release dangerous people into
our communities
Instead we're exploring policies that ensure that if someone is
help retrial it is because they are dangerous or because
they're likely to free but not because they're too poor
to pay bail
This is what the Constitution requires and it also makes
sense for the safety of our communities of a person
is likely to be danger to the community pretrial
They shouldn't be able to secure release no matter how
much money they have access to
And if a person isn't likely to endanger their community
their poverty shouldn't be what keeps them in jail
We must also continue our decades long efforts to ensure
economic fairness in our courts but helping to bridge the
access to justice gap for those with limited means
The majority of North Carolinians believe that access to the
court system is unaffordable and our data confirms their feeling
Nearly 3/4 of the people we serve come to court
without the assistance of a lawyer
Those self represented litigants face tremendous difficulty in navigating an
increasingly complex body of law rules and procedures and hundreds
of standardized forms assisting them as as they try to
represent themselves strains the already limited resources of our judicial
branch especially for clerks of court the Magistrates and our
judges
Through the Chief justice's Equal access to Justice Commission we
continue to make great strides in bridging the gap
The commission's pro bono Resource centre held dozens of clinics
this year connected hundreds of lawyers for pro bono volunteer
opportunities and lodged a special project to provide free legal
services to small businesses and nonprofits
Facing difficulties as a result of the Cove in 19
Pandemic and you have been a vital part of this
work hundreds of attorneys across the state provided thousands of
hours of pro bono service for the people of North
Carolina
The Equal Access to Justice Commission also launched Our New
Faith and Justice alliance this year
This month this allies between faith leaders attorneys and service
providers will allow us to bring legal training and pro
bono services to communities who need them most
And I'm so excited about the work the alliance will
do to bring the faith and legal communities together and
service to those who are in the greatest need
We also know that thousands of North Carolinians are trapped
in a cycle of court debt that they cannot escape
It often takes 15 years arm or to restore a
license that has been suspended as a result of court
debt
That's why we launched N
C
Fair chance dot org's
We have worked in partnership with district attorneys and the
North Carolina Justice Center to eliminate longstanding court debt and
help restore driver's licenses for more than 20,000 North Carolinians
Those with suspended licenses can visit the website to see
if they have received relief and get help to reinstate
their license
In addition to that help were also taking steps to
ensure the fines and fees imposed in our justice system
are tempered so that no family is asked to forgo
their rent or utilities or food in order to pay
a court debt
Especially now as North Carolinians face devastatingly high rates of
unemployment and economic uncertainty we can do better and we
must do better
There are so many other important initiatives that are Judicial
Branch continues to pursue to include increased access to drug
and mental health courts specialty veterans courts online access to
services services for victims of domestic violence and so many
others
The State Judicial Council continues to examine a multitude of
similar initiatives
The show such promise for improving the administration of justice
in North Carolina and I'm immensely hopeful about the future
of our court system
As we strive to make these improvements to rest system
we must also be mindful of the stress that is
affecting everyone in our court system
In this challenging time
As lawyers you are facing an unending stream of rapid
changes to court processes and procedures as well a substantive
law
You are worried about your own health and the health
of your love ones
You and your clients are facing mounting economic uncertainty
I encourage you to take advantage of the services offered
by Bar Cares and the largest assistance program
Confidential Assistance is also available through mail right executive director
of the Chief Justice's Commission on Professionalism
North Carolinians are resilient and resourceful and we approach our
challenges with a spirit of cooperation and innovation
I am confident that as we move through the challenging
months ahead we will continue to come together and find
new and exciting ways to ensure that our courts embody
the fundamental principles of fairness and equality and that we
administer justice efficiently with the health and safety of every
North Carolinian at heart
I think each of you for all the ways that
you lied in our communities and move us forward as
we improve the administration of justice
Our court system is better because of your service
And I'm so proud to serve as your chief justice
Thank you