FILED
September 3, 2021
At: 5:20 p.m.
William T. Walsh
Clerk
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY
IN RE: COURT OPERATIONS UNDER THE :
EXIGENT CIRCUMSTANCES CREATED : UPDATED AMENDED
BY COVID-19 : STANDING ORDER 2021-04
WHEREAS, the transmission of COVID-19 has recently increased, due to the delta
and other variants, and on July 27, 2021, the CDC recommended that all persons, including
those fully vaccinated against COVID-19, wear a mask in public indoor settings, in areas of
substantial or high transmission; and
WHEREAS, all 21 counties of New Jersey are now areas of high transmission, and
accordingly, this Court has expanded its efforts to mitigate the spread of the virus by mandating
full vaccination of its employees, while continuing its protocols of temperature screening and
hand sanitizing by all entrants to the District’s courthouses, and mask wearing in all public areas
of Court facilities by entrants and occupants thereof, regardless of vaccination status; and
WHEREAS, it is therefore necessary that this Court continue to minimize contact among
persons, while at the same time, preserve its core mission of serving the public through the fair
and impartial administration of justice; and
NOW, THEREFORE, to further the health and safety of Court personnel, counsel,
litigants, other case participants, jurors, security personnel and the general public, and to reduce
the number of gatherings necessarily attendant to jury selection and trials in all vicinages of
this Court, the Court deems it necessary and appropriate to amend Amended Standing Order
2021-04, and ORDERS as follows:
1. No more than one jury selection, either civil or criminal, shall occur in each vicinage
of this Court at one time;
2. Multiple, simultaneous jury trials may be conducted in each of this Court’s vicinages,
but the number of simultaneous criminal jury trials involving detainees in each
vicinage shall be limited by the capacity of the United States Marshals Service to
manage the detainees, taking into consideration the number of cells available in the
vicinage and the necessity of limiting each cell to one detainee, due to the ongoing
COVID-19 pandemic;
3. Pursuant to this Court’s Amended Standing Order 2021-02, until further Order of
the Court, judicial proceedings, in both criminal and civil matters, shall continue to
be conducted via video and teleconference whenever possible, to the extent consistent
with the Second Extension of Standing Order 2021-03 (“In Re: Video Conferencing
and Teleconferencing for Criminal Proceedings Under the CARES Act”); and
4. Except as otherwise provided herein, the provisions of Amended Standing Order
2021-04 shall remain in full force and effect; and
5. Additional Orders addressing Court Operations Under the Exigent Circumstances
Created by COVID-19 shall be entered as warranted.
DATED: September 3, 2021
_____________________
Hon. Freda L. Wolfson
U.S. Chief District Judge
District of New Jersey
