In re: 45th Judicial District (Lackawanna County)

Opinion

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA MIDDLE DISTRICT

IN RE: 45th JUDICIAL DISTRICT - > No. 32 MM 2020 REQUEST FOR EMERGENCY JUDICIAL ORDER

ORDER

AND NOW, this 17" day of March, 2020, the Request for Emergency Judicial Order by the Honorable Michael J. Barrasse, President Judge of the Forty-Fifth Judicial District, is GRANTED IN PART. Relief is DENIED as to Paragraph 1(b)(1), to the extent that it seeks to suspend time calculations irrespective of constitutional restrictions, and Paragraph 1(b)(2), to the extent that it seeks to suspend Rule of Criminal Procedure 119(A)(7), insofar as that rule protects a defendant's constitutional right to be physically present. In all other respects, the application is GRANTED, as the remaining requested relief is consistent with this Court’s order declaring a General Statewide Judicial Emergency, see 531 Judicial Administration Docket (order dated March 16, 2020) (detailing, inter alia, certain authority President Judges have following a declaration of a

judicial emergency, subject to constitutional limitations).

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THOMAS G. SAYLOR Chief Justice of Pennsylvania