Public defenders push Hochul on court COVID safety
The highly transmissible COVID-19 delta variant is spreading throughout the city’s courthouses, infecting New Yorkers facing charges, defense attorneys, court staff and judges, city public defenders write in a letter to incoming Gov. Kathy Hochul.
The state Office of Court Administration must enact stricter safety procedures following a recent wave of coronavirus cases linked to the courts after a six-week period without any positive tests, according to the letter sent Monday and obtained by the Daily News.
Twelve lawyers with the Legal Aid Society reported they had either been exposed to the virus or tested positive in the second half of July, with seven reporting symptoms on July 28 alone, according to the letter.
“As disturbing data about the delta variant and the rate of courtroom-linked infections continues to emerge, [the Office of Court Administration] must take swift and meaningful steps to protect all who enter its courthouses in order to avoid a scenario in which greater limitations must be placed again on in-person appearances,” reads the letter sent to Hochul and other state and city officials. It was signed by Bronx Defenders, Brooklyn Defender Services, the Legal Aid Society, Neighborhood Defender Services and New York County Defender Services.
The public defender groups demand prisoners be detained in well-ventilated areas, all nonessential court matters be held virtually and that courthouse visitors be provided with N95 or KN95 masks. “Seventeen months into the pandemic, there is no excuse for not having these upgrades in place throughout all courthouses and being transparent about the steps taken to ensure basic health and safety,” reads the letter.
The plea to Lt. Gov. Hochul follows more than a year of letters and lawsuits filed by public defenders and various groups advocating for better safety in the courthouses.
In July, The News highlighted decrepit conditions in nonpublic areas of the city’s courthouses, compelling the state Senate Judiciary Committee to order the Office of Court Administration to break out the bleach and remedy the unsanitary conditions.
The ventilation in court buildings’ 500 prisoner holding cells — including where women and minors are held — was not upgraded the way the ventilation in public areas was in the wake of the pandemic.
Office of Court Administration spokesman Lucian Chalfen noted that the agency reinstituted a mask requirement on Friday for all public areas of city courthouses due to a surge in coronavirus cases. “As we have maintained, we constantly monitor the metrics and make health and safety changes as necessary,” Chalfen said.