USDC DNJ
DOCUMENT
ELECTRONICALLY FILED
DOC #: ___________________
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT May 19, 2021
DATE FILED: _______________
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY
IN RE: COURT OPERATIONS UNDER THE :
EXIGENT CIRCUMSTANCES CREATED :
BY COVID-19 (FOURTH EXTENSION OF : AMENDED STANDING
STANDING ORDER 2020-12) : ORDER 2021-04
WHEREAS, the National Emergency, declared in response to the coronavirus (COVID-
19) pandemic, remains in effect, as does the New Jersey Public Health Emergency, extended by
Governor Murphy on May 14, 2021, for another 30 days, or until mid-June 2021; and
WHEREAS, on May 12, 2021, Governor Murphy signed Executive Order No. 239,
easing COVID-19 restrictions in New Jersey, thereby eliminating percentage-based capacity
restrictions for indoor businesses, outdoor businesses, and houses of worship, increasing indoor
large venue capacity, and removing all outdoor gathering limits; and
WHEREAS, however, said Executive Order provides that all indoor gatherings shall still
be subject to physical distancing and masking requirements; and
WHEREAS, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revised its
guidelines on May 13, 2021 to provide that anyone who is fully vaccinated against COVID-19
can participate in indoor and outdoor activities, large or small, without wearing a mask or
physical distancing; and
WHEREAS, however, the CDC guidelines still recommend masking and physical
distancing in certain indoor settings, such as buses, planes, hospitals, and prisons; and
WHEREAS, in extending the New Jersey Public Health Emergency, on May 14, 2021,
Governor Murphy declared, in Executive Order No. 240, that even with improvements in key
statistics, the lifting of certain restrictions, and progress in vaccine administration, “it is still
necessary to maintain mitigation protocols to ensure spread is limited while dissemination of the
vaccine continues” and that “the spread of COVID-19 in New Jersey constitutes an ongoing
public health hazard that threatens and presently endangers the health, safety, and welfare of the
residents of one or more municipalities or counties of the State”; and
WHEREAS, also, the COVID-19 vaccination rate in New Jersey, of adults eligible to
serve as jurors is currently still low, and therefore, of concern, with many towns in the State
having fewer than 40% of their residents vaccinated, and the percentages of fully vaccinated
adults in this Court’s vicinages, as of May 14, 2021, being slight, with Camden at 28%, Newark
at 34% and Trenton at 25%; and
WHEREAS, despite the newly relaxed CDC guidelines, on May 17, 2021, Governor
Murphy announced that because “we’re not out of the woods yet,” New Jersey was retaining its
requirement that individuals mask up in indoor public spaces, citing the pockets of unvaccinated
residents, and uncertain effectiveness of the vaccines against the several variants of COVID-19,
present in the State; and
WHEREAS, Governor Murphy also then declared that schools will be required to
provide full-time, in-person instruction beginning in the fall of 2021; and
WHEREAS, accordingly, this Court anticipates that by September 1, 2021, the
representative nature of the pool of summoned jurors will have improved, due to the increased
availability of parents of school-age children to serve as jurors, and to an elevation in vaccination
rates by that time; and
WHEREAS, due to the sustained caution advisable under these circumstances, this
Court continues to observe its COVID-19 Recovery Guidelines, requiring the wearing of facial
coverings, physical distancing, and limited elevator occupancy in the District’s courthouses,
while these disease-containing measures are mandated by the Court’s Standing Orders 2020-13,
2020-14 and 2020-16, which remain in effect; and
WHEREAS, this Court seeks to continue its mitigation of the spread of COVID-19
by minimizing contact between persons, while at the same time, preserving its core mission of
serving the public through the fair and impartial administration of justice; and
NOW, THEREFORE, in order to further public health and safety, the health and safety
of Court personnel, counsel, litigants, other case participants, jurors, security personnel and the
general public, and in order to reduce the number of gatherings necessarily attendant to civil jury
trials in all vicinages of this Court, the Court deems it necessary and appropriate to amend
Standing Order 2021-04, and ORDERS as follows:
1. Civil jury selections and trials shall resume on September 1, 2021, and only one civil
jury trial may be conducted in each of the District’s courthouses at a time. Jury trials impacted
by this Standing Order may be reset by further Order of the assigned judicial officer.
2. Criminal jury selections and trials shall still resume on June 1, 2021, and shall take
priority over any civil jury selections and trials, in the event of a logistics conflict.
3. Except as otherwise provided herein, the provisions of Standing Order 2021-04
shall remain in full force and effect.
4. Additional Orders addressing Court Operations Under the Exigent Circumstances
Created by COVID-19 shall be entered as warranted.
DATED: May 19, 2021 _____________________
___
_ ________________________
Hon. Freda L. Wolfs
Wolfson,
fsson,
U.S. Chief District Judge
District of New Jersey
