Public defenders fight to get vaccines
In-custody populations have been prioritized for the vaccine, but the people who serve them have not been
SANTA CRUZ >> Since the Santa Cruz Sheriff’s Office coronavirus outbreak last month, some public defenders at the Biggam Christensen & Minsloff offices have elected not to return to the county courthouse or jails.
But Michelle Lipperd, a defender who runs one of three felony departments for the firm, said she feels like she can’t sufficiently do her job without being with her clients in person.
Lipperd regularly works for the law firm that acts as the county’s public defense service in Department 11 — the department in which more than one bailiff has tested positive, she’s been notified — in the Santa Cruz Superior Court building. She primarily handles new arraignments and preliminar y hearings. Lipperd also enters the Santa Cruz Main Jail to act as legal representation inside the prison’s courtroom. In both situations she has to be within at least 4 feet, not 6 feet, to press the mute button on the mic and have confidential conversations with clients.
Lipperd has been exposed to COVID-19 through sick inmates, bailiffs and judges more times than she could recount.
“Some clients get really agitated, get very aggressive and their mask keeps slipping down so I have to remind them to pull it back up,” she said.
But Lipperd’s daily presence is necessary to the justice system process, even when less-than-satisfactory internet connection fails her in the courthouse during a Zoom or Skype hearing. Many clients need help expressing their thoughts to a judge during a hearing, all while she’s trying to mitigate an environment with limited ventilation and no windows through disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizer.
Most recently, one of Lipperd’s clients was COVID19-positive when he entered booking and was taken to a hotel the county has designated for houseless or correctional individuals. The danger of the virus was brought to the forefront of Lipperd’s mind once again. This, argues her colleague and Deputy Public Defender Steve Prekoski, is why legal workers should be high up on the vaccination distribution plan.
Prekoski, a board member of the California Public Defenders Association, has been working with those in his sector to reach out to local and state authorities to ask not to cut the line for a vaccine, but simply get in it. At this time, in-custody individuals are outlined in the distribution plan but legal professionals are not.
“We are saying, ‘Here’s a simple, easy way to protect not just (us) but every single person (we) interact with outside of court,’” he said. “They should do the same with bailiffs that transport shackled people back and forth and the (correctional officers) in jail. It’s very hard to guarantee social distancing if a fight breaks out.”
Santa Cruz County Sheriff Jim Hart agrees with Prekoski; with the risks that correctional officers take to maintain activities at the jails, they should be considered for one of the first phases of vaccine implementation.
“It’s super important to vaccinate everybody, but our correctional staff works in a congregate living environment where the virus is really taking its toll,” Hart said. “We don’t want anybody to get sick but we also don’t want to overwhelm the limited hospital beds we have. A severe outbreak in the jail could really impact our local hospitals.”
The California Public Defenders Association first sent a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom two weeks ago asking that he consider attorneys and related workers higher up in the vaccination plan. When no real traction was gained, Prekoski focused on leading the charge at a lower level and reaching out to Santa Cruz County Health Officer Dr. Gail Newel. When Newel referred Prekoski to the county’s Vaccine Liaison Officer Tony Sloss asking for support, he said that the county could not take any stances other than that of following state and federal guidelines around the vaccine. Later, Prekoski sent Sloss Centers for Disease Control guidelines published just before Christmas that supported lawyers and other legal professionals being in Phase 1c.
“We’re not commenting on any particular group’s advocacy, and will follow state and federal guidelines as they are developed,” said county spokesman Jason Hoppin after Sloss forwarded the Sentinel’s inquiry on to him. “We encourage those who seek to have input on this process to reach out to the appropriate authorities.”
Tani G. Cantil- Sakauye, the chief justice of the California Supreme Court, sent her own letter to the governor around the same time as Prekoski pleading that court employees and judicial officers be included in Phase 1c.
“I make this request in light of the California court system’s close proximity to our residents/users/partners, and the significant degree of foot traffic cycling through our courthouses,” Cantil-Sakauye wrote.
Phase 1a, which the state and its partners are working to execute now, provides vaccines to health care workers, first responders and residents and staff of congregate living facilities. Phase 1b covers community and home healthcare workers, primary care workers and essential employees who work in sectors such as food and agriculture workers as well as those over the age of 75. If legal workers joined Phase 1c, they would be vaccinated along the same timeline as those between 65 and 74 years of age and those younger than age 65 with significant, underlying health conditions.
There’s just one alternative, Prekoski said. The state of Maryland recently passed a moratorium on trials that will last through the end of April. Santa Cruz County could do the same thing, extending the emergency order from the chief justice aiding judges who are asking for at least an additional four weeks after the Jan. 8 cutoff. It’s unlikely a trial will begin before February, Superior Court spokesman Alex Calvo said Tuesday. A task force made up of members from the Sheriffs Office, Public Defender’s Office, District Attorney’s Office and the Superior Court system has already studied and noted what measures can be taken to make trials safe in the future, such as eliminating the use of the jury box and placing members throughout the courtroom.
The vaccine is needed in the Sheriff’s Office as fast as staff members can get it, according to Hart. As of Tuesday, 21 employees are out quarantining, with just five having confirmed cases of COVID-19 — three of whom work in corrections. At one time, the department had 35 people at home either out of necessity or concern.
“This surge we are experiencing now is real,” he said. “I know there are people out there that don’t think so, but we went many months in our office with zero or just one or two off with exposures… We’re really having to make due with less, and we’re understaffed as it is.”
Until the extra layer of protection is available to those in the legal field, Calvo said that a janitorial team cleans each courtroom nightly and extra disinfectant materials are offered to those who want to wipe the spaces down themselves. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Superior Court has instilled safety protocols to help slow the spread of the virus in its perimeter including staggered calendars and occupancy limits.
“There’s a certain amount that everyone who comes into the courthouse building has to take responsibility for,” Calvo said. “No one is measuring attorneys to make sure they’re six feet apart… but we’ve gone a long way to reduce the number of people who have to come in… We’re trying to do everything we can to ensure we are being as safe as we possibly can be.”