Seeing the Justice System through the Crisis
07/23/2020
The Hon. Lisa Van Amburg ('75) helps guide the Missouri Bar's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Coming out of retirement less than two years after it began to co-chair the Missouri Bar鈥檚 COVID-19 Task Force hadn鈥檛 exactly been what Hon. Lisa Van Amburg (鈥75) had in mind when she stepped down from the bench in 2018. The former appellate judge for the Missouri Court of Appeals for the Eastern District enjoys being of service nonetheless.
Van Amburg along with fellow alumnus Hon. James Welsh (鈥75), former appellate judge for the Missouri Court of Appeals for the Western District, received the phone call from bar president Tom Bender in early March. Both judges were equipped with not only past judicial experience but past practice experience, enabling them to understand the enormity of the situation at hand.
鈥淢ostly I think it鈥檚 because we鈥檙e retired and have the time to work on it,鈥 Van Amburg said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been a pleasure for me to work with Judge Welsh and with the wonderful attorneys and practitioners on this task force.鈥
The Task Force鈥檚 Charge
The COVID-19 Task Force was formed with the purpose of making recommendations to the members of the state bar, to the Missouri Supreme Court and to Governor Parson about how to adjust and help the justice system survive this crisis. It is comprised of about 25 people divided into three working groups: civil litigation, criminal law, and a more general group that encompasses issues like estate planning and problems unique to the elderly.
Many people who walk into the courthouse are summoned there, so it鈥檚 extremely important that they feel before they walk in that there鈥檚 protection, and it鈥檚 very important that we provide those protections."
The task force already has addressed the challenge of in-person notarization requirements, consulting on legislation that would allow people signing wills, for example, to notarize their wills remotely. It is also working on formalizing guidelines for judges conducting proceedings virtually, as well as on making recommendations to the court about how jury trial operations can be safely phased back in.
鈥淢any people who walk into the courthouse are summoned there, so it鈥檚 extremely important that they feel before they walk in that there鈥檚 protection, and it鈥檚 very important that we provide those protections,鈥 Van Amburg said. 鈥淭here are many rural courthouses in Missouri that I just don鈥檛 think have the facilities to conduct jury trials during this crisis. You couldn鈥檛 think about putting people in a jury box. Some courthouses don鈥檛 even have janitors.鈥
These courthouses may have to move jury trials to high school gymnasiums or college facilities that have larger spaces, she said.
鈥淲e鈥檙e just going to have to make adjustments, such as questioning people in small groups in criminal matters,鈥 Van Amburg continued. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 shackle prisoners together in guilty pleas. A lot of new paradigms need to be put into place.鈥
A Diverse Court System
The task force isn鈥檛 left to come up with these solutions on its own; its members have been consulting best practices elsewhere through the National Center for State Courts, a nonprofit that seeks to improve judicial administration in the U.S. and throughout the world, as well as learning from states on the East and West Coasts that have had to develop similar plans earlier.
The task force also must consider the diverse needs and resources of the various circuits within Missouri鈥檚 court system; Van Amburg noted that resources are great in the metropolitan areas compared to the rural areas, so the solutions are not going to be one-size-fits-all.
An example: one of the task force鈥檚 recommendations is that when the courthouses are reopened, there will be security at the doors to screen people for possible infection. In the metropolitan areas, the municipal governments can help fund tools like thermometers, masks and hand sanitizer, but in the rural areas, there is not money readily available, nor is there the likelihood of being able to social distance.
鈥淪o members [of the bar] need to keep in touch, and the task force would love to hear from them about some of the unique problems in their courthouses,鈥 Van Amburg said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e hoping for the best, but I don鈥檛 know that our task force will be dissolving anytime in the summer, at least while there are so many predictions that the virus is going to come back in the fall, so I鈥檓 thinking it鈥檚 a long-term project.鈥
Bright Lights
There is some good news on the horizon.
Van Amburg said she is heartened by seeing the commitment of the Missouri Bar and the Missouri Supreme Court to not only its members but to those who access the justice system, in making sure that resuming 鈥榥ormal鈥 operations does not risk their health and safety.
There鈥檚 thinking going on about people who have traditionally not had equal access.鈥
鈥淭he other bright light is that some of these changes in terms of operations are going to be improvements to access to justice,鈥 she continued. 鈥淲e鈥檝e seen the U.S. Supreme Court go remote and look what happened 鈥 a lot of people tuned in to the proceedings for the first time. Much of the video hearings going on now actually have been going on for a couple years; in probate court in the City of St. Louis, the probate commissioners have been conducting hearings with, for example, people in mental institutions to determine guardianship issues. But now it鈥檚 becoming the new normal.
鈥淭here鈥檚 also more consideration now for self-represented litigants who have no access to the courthouse and for people incarcerated, as well,鈥 she said. 鈥淭hey shouldn鈥檛 lose their civil rights when they go to prison or cannot access the courthouse for other reasons; many do not have computers. The courts are now thinking about how we need to have a place where they can access computers and be present for these hearings. There鈥檚 thinking going on about people who have traditionally not had equal access.鈥
The new coronavirus, while illuminating these longstanding problems, is simultaneously serving as an equalizer of sorts.
鈥淓veryone鈥檚 thinking about access to justice and what it means, and they don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 just a problem for disadvantaged people,鈥 Van Amburg said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e all in the same boat of understanding that inequality of wealth and access to justice is a threat to all.
鈥淎nd it鈥檚 a problem we could all have 鈥 just like the disease, it doesn鈥檛 see economic boundaries, and access-to-justice issues now are everyone鈥檚 challenge. The justice system is the one system in our democracy in which the doors need to be literally and figuratively open to everyone, or else the democracy fails. This COVID-19 has raised our awareness of that, and that鈥檚 a good thing.鈥
鈥 By Maria Tsikalas