FILED IN THE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF HAWAII
Aug 13, 2020, 8:37 am
Michelle Rynne, Clerk of Court
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF HAWAII
IN RE: DISTRICT OF HAWAII
RESPONSE TO COVID-19 PANDEMIC
AUGUST 13, 2020 TEMPORARY GENERAL ORDER REGARDING
DISTRICT OF HAWAII RESPONSE TO COVID-19 PANDEMIC
This Temporary General Order supersedes the Court’s July 28, 2020
“Temporary General Order Regarding District of Hawaii Response to COVID-19
Pandemic.”
The Court has continued to monitor the spread of the COVID-19 virus in the
State of Hawaii and the rest of the United States, and has carefully considered the
need to protect the public, court employees, and counsel from being exposed to the
COVID-19 virus. Most recently, the State of Hawaii has experienced a significant
increase in the spread of COVID-19. As of the date of this Order, the State of
Hawaii has the highest Effective Reproduction Rate (or “Rt” rate), in the United
States—that is, the State of Hawaii has the highest average number of people who
become infected by an infectious person. Further, on August 6, 2020, State of
Hawaii Governor David Ige issued an “Eleventh Proclamation Related to the
COVID-19 Emergency Interisland Travel Quarantine.” Under the Eleventh
Proclamation, “all persons traveling to the Islands of Kaua‛i, Hawai‛i, and the
Islands compromising the Counties of Maui and Kalawao, in the State of Hawai‛i
shall be subject to mandatory self-quarantine.” As a result, because the District of
Hawaii uses a state-wide jury pool, any juror travelling to the courthouse on Oahu
from another island would be required to self-quarantine for fourteen days upon
returning to that juror’s home island.
With the agreement of all of the judges of the United States District Court
for the District of Hawaii, the Court orders as follows:
The courthouse will remain open for non-jury matters, but no jury trial shall
commence prior to October 13, 2020.
Mitigation Measures for the Courthouse:
All persons entering the courthouse, including but not limited to litigants,
attorneys, members of the public, media, vendors, and contractors, shall be
required to wear a face mask fully covering the nose and mouth while in all
public areas of the courthouse. The three exceptions to this rule are: 1)
children too young to wear a face mask; 2) those who cannot wear a face
mask due to medical necessity may wear a face shield in lieu of a face mask;
and 3) individual judges may permit anyone speaking in a courtroom while
court is in session to wear a face shield in lieu of a face mask, or permit a
witness to testify behind plexiglass without a face mask or face shield.
Anyone seeking entry to the courthouse without a face mask will be
provided a free face mask at the courthouse entry. Anyone refusing to wear
a face mask (or face shield, if permitted) as required by this Order shall be
denied entry, or removed from the courthouse, by the United States Marshals
Service.
Hand sanitizer stations will be made available throughout the courthouse,
including immediately upon entry and by all elevators.
Everyone in the courthouse will be required to maintain social distancing of
at least six feet, unless exempted by the Court. For instance, while at the
entry pavilion or waiting for an elevator, all visitors are required to maintain
at least a six-foot distance from the nearest person. The courtrooms will
have chairs clearly designated for use that meet the six-foot distancing
requirement.
Entry to the courthouse will be denied to anyone who has been diagnosed as
having COVID-19 within the previous 14 days; anyone living with or in
close proximity to anyone diagnosed as having COVID-19 within the
previous 14 days; and anyone having symptoms of a COVID-19 infection,
including fever, chills, shortness of breath, unexplained coughing, and new
loss of taste or smell.
Entry to the courthouse will be denied to anyone required by the State of
Hawaii to be in self-quarantine.
2
Courthouse employees will be required to telework for a 14-day period after
entering the State of Hawaii from anywhere outside the State of Hawaii.
Any other person (that is, any non-courthouse employee) entering the
courthouse who has been outside of the State of Hawaii during a previous
14-day period is required to provide the Court with written notification that
the person intends to enter the courthouse. Notification must be provided as
early as possible. This notification requirement includes attorneys
(appearing for any purpose) and witnesses, and applies regardless of any
State of Hawaii exemption to a 14-day quarantine. Attorneys are
responsible to provide notification on behalf of witnesses the attorney
intends to bring into the courthouse. Notice must be provided as soon as
feasible and sent to the orders email address for the presiding judge. See
https://www.hid.uscourts.gov/contactJudges. If grand jury is being held,
notice regarding any grand jury appearances by an attorney or witness must
be sent to
[email protected]. Each presiding judge retains
the discretion to prohibit entry to any person based on COVID-19 concerns.
Non-Jury Proceedings:
In order to minimize the risk of COVID-19 transmission, the Court will
make every effort to minimize traffic in the courthouse. Each presiding
district or magistrate judge will determine whether civil matters, including
case management matters, settlement conferences, and hearings, will be
taken off calendar pursuant to Local Rule 7.1, or conducted by telephone,
Zoom, or in court.
Each presiding judge will determine how to proceed with civil non-jury
trials.
At the discretion of the presiding judge, the Court will continue to conduct
certain criminal proceedings by telephone or video as permitted by the
Court’s most current CARES Act Order.
Certain criminal proceedings that fall outside the Court’s most recent
CARES Act Order will be conducted in court, if possible.
3
If a presiding judge elects to proceed with a hearing by telephone or Zoom,
all hearings will be available to members of the public and the media, to the
extent practicable. Specific information will be available on each case’s
individual docket on PACER, and further instructions can be found on the
Court’s website. Members of the public and media are strictly prohibited
from recording or broadcasting any hearing (whether telephonic or Zoom),
in whole or in part, in any fashion. Failure to abide by this restriction may
result in sanctions. Further information may be set forth on the Court’s
website, www.hid.uscourts.gov, and may change from time to time.
Filings will continue to be processed in civil and criminal cases via the CM-
ECF electronic system and by mail. Rather than coming to the Clerk’s
Office, paper filings must be deposited in the drop box located outside the
courthouse.
Pro se litigants may file by email (
[email protected]) or by using
the drop box located outside the courthouse. File-stamped copies will be
returned by United States mail. Anyone seeking information from the
Clerk’s Office is encouraged to call the help desk at (808) 541-1890.
Until further notice, in both civil and criminal matters, no courtesy copies of
filings are to be provided to chambers unless specifically ordered by a
presiding judge.
The Cerk’s Office will be open from 8:30 a.m. until noon, and from 1:15
p.m. until 4:00 p.m. on Monday through Friday.
Jury Proceedings as of October 13, 2020:
The Court has determined that no jury trials can be safely conducted in the
courthouse until October 13, 2020.
Given the size of the courthouse and the district court’s fourth floor
courtrooms, and the need for parties, counsel, paralegals, interpreters, court
staff and jurors to maintain the required six-foot social distancing throughout
any trial, certain multi-plaintiff or multi-defendant cases cannot be
conducted safely. Until further notice and in the interest of safety, the Court
will thus limit the number of counsel and parties that can be in a courtroom
4
during a trial. Each case will be considered on a case-by-case basis, taking
into account the number of participants involved and any other relevant
considerations.
The Court further finds that multiple trials cannot safely be conducted
simultaneously; once the court reopens to trials, only one trial can be safely
held at a time.
The Court understands that the continuance of jury trials will cause further
delay for all parties. As a general rule, individual judges will attempt to
move trials currently set in the months of August, September, October, and
November later by approximately two months. The Court also recognizes
that this may not be practicable for all cases. Counsel in civil cases are
required to confer in an effort to agree on a new trial date. With respect to
criminal cases, individual presiding judges will hold trial setting status
conferences as required. But before any status conference is held parties are
required to confer to determine if a stipulation can be entered to continue the
trial date and toll time under the Speedy Trial Act, which may eliminate the
need for a status conference. Each presiding judge will make appropriate
findings and enter an order (whether as part of a stipulation or as a
standalone order) tolling time under the Speedy Trial Act; that is, although
all judges agree that no trials can be held before October 13, 2020, each
presiding judge will make the individual findings required by the Speedy
Trial Act.
ORDERED ON BEHALF OF THE COURT:
DATED: Honolulu, Hawaii, August 13, 2020.
/s/ J. Michael Seabright
J. Michael Seabright
United States District Judge
In Re District of Hawaii Response to COVID-19 Pandemic; August 13, 2020 Temporary General
Order Regarding District of Hawaii Response to COVID-19 Pandemic
5
