JUSTICE SYSTEM WORKERS CLEARED FOR DOSES

Judges, some criminal defense lawyers and court employees can now get the COVID-19 vaccine in San Diego County after county health officials quietly included them late last week in the recent expansion of those eligible to get the shot.

The decision means more than 2,000 county employees, including 1,200 court workers, 968 employees of the District Attorney’s Office and about 400 in the Office of the Public Defender, are now eligible to get the vaccine.

So are about about 120 private criminal defense lawyers who represent indigent defendants in San Diego federal court, and prosecutors and staff in the federal U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The decision to allow a huge chunk of the local court system access to the vaccine came late last week, when the county de

cided the workers would be included in the category of “emergency services.” It also culminated a concerted campaign begun late last year at the state and local levels by leaders in the court and legal system to gain priority for justice system workers for getting the vaccine.

It also appears to have bumped court system workers up in the tier system set by the state that governs the vaccine rollout.

In late December those workers were still considered to be part of a later tier that would be vaccinated along with other government workers in what was then dubbed Tier 1C. But since then the state has changed the priority system several times as it tried to simplify what was a confusing rollout for many residents, and grappled with supply and distribution challenges.

State officials have also allowed counties some leeway in how they distribute doses.

On Thursday county health officials notified the District Attorney’s Office, Superior Court and Public Defender’s Offices that they were now approved to receive the vaccine as part of the emergency services group.

That grouping includes law enforcement, fire and rescue workers, animal control workers and some security guards as well as workers who provide services to “public safety facilities.” The county document said it also includes “government personnel and contracted vendors working in judicial or administrative facilities involved in the administration of justice.”

That last phrase is the one that has swept in the justice system employees. The guidance by the state on “emergency services” is identical to the county’s — but the state’s document does not contain the phrase including workers “involved in the administration of justice.”

A county spokesman said court workers were included because of the connection between courts and policing. “We think court employees are part of law enforcement,” communications director Michael Workman said Monday. He did not respond to follow up questions regarding public defenders, nor what prompted the change.

While the new guidance makes prosecutors and public defenders eligible, it appears to leave criminal defense attorneys in private practice still in line.

Brian White, president of the Criminal Defense Lawyers Club in San Diego, said he asked court officials if private lawyers were also eligible to get the vaccine, but did not get a response.

Lawyers who practice in the civil law courts are also apparently not included.

For weeks, court officials and representatives of public defender groups have urged their workers get priority for the vaccine. They argued that the lawyers interact with clients who are in jail and other congregate facilities, where the virus can spread rapidly.

Court leaders said courthouse workers interact with the public and some are in courtrooms with defendants and lawyers. In December Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye wrote to Gov. Gavin Newsom urging that the state’s court workers get priority — not before frontline workers in health care, but soon. In return she got a thank you note from state officials, but no change in policy.

On Jan. 27 District Attorney Summer Stephan, Public Defender Randy Mize and San Diego Superior Court Judge Lorna Alksne sent a letter to Dr. Wilma Wooten, the county’s public health officer. The three noted in the letter that a recent change by the state in the vaccine rollout emphasized age-based distribution instead of jobs, meaning that “many of our lawyers, employees and judges will not be eligible until much later in the process than originally planned.”

The letter noted that the pandemic had brought jury trials virtually to a halt, and created a huge backlog of cases. It asked for prioritization for employees and judges as vaccine supplies come into the county.

For much of the past year the court has been operating at a reduced level. The courts were essentially closed for weeks, then resumed operations slowly. Most court hearings on the criminal side are conducted remotely — via a video hookup with lawyers in their offices and defendants appearing from special rooms in the jails. Trials resumed late last year, though only a handful have been completed.

The decision by the county last week to make those justice system workers eligible to get the vaccine became effective beginning Saturday.

Justice system workers in the federal courts are also eligible now for the vaccine. Chief Judge Dana Sabraw wrote a letter on Feb. 22— days before the county decision — on behalf of lawyers funded under the Criminal Justice Act. These are attorneys in private practice who agree to represent indigent people charged with federal crimes.

He wrote a similar letter for prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which welcomed the effort. “United States Attorney’s Office personnel are eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccinations as Phase 1B Emergency Services workers,” said Kelly Thornton, director of media relations for the U.S. attorney. “We are grateful for Chief Judge Sabraw’s letter supporting our efforts to receive vaccinations.”

Sabraw’s letter on behalf of criminal defense lawyers was addressed to “Vaccine Centers.” It made similar arguments as other court leaders have: that lawyers also have to go into jails, hospitals and other congregate care facilities and are in danger of being exposed to the virus.

“For these reasons, members of the CJA Panel in the Southern District of California should be given priority for vaccinations as part of the category of “front line workers,” the judge wrote.

Sabraw said Tuesday that he intended the letter to be a request, one that the lawyers could take to vaccine centers and present to workers there. “I was hoping those individuals at those centers could make the determination if these were front-line workers, and should receive the vaccine,” he said.

Sabraw said the intent was not to “line jump.” He said the definitions of who is eligible have been unclear and change frequently, and that lawyers and court workers are essential to making sure the courts are filling their important role of being open and functioning.

“The question is are you jumping the line or pushing your way in,” he said. “In my view that is now that we we’re doing. We were taking the definition on the county website and using those terms to suggest those individuals fell into that standard and should be vaccinated.”

White said he was told some lawyers were accepted at some vaccine sites, though at least one site at Grossmont Center in La Mesa apparently turned away some people.

Sabraw said the county decision a few days after his letter to expand the eligibility across the justice system made it explicitly clear that lawyers and others in the system can get vaccinated.