Florida Chief Justice Charles Canady has issued new directives ending mask-wearing and social distancing mandates in common areas of the state’s courthouses but leaving in place the COVID-19 health restrictions during in-person court proceedings.
“Today I am issuing administrative orders to end health screenings required for entering courthouses and to terminate the general requirement that masks be worn throughout courthouses in the state,” Canady said remarks recorded on a May 6 video.
Mask requirements and social distancing rules, however, will continue to be enforced during in-person court proceedings, the chief justice said.
The relaxation of rules imposed during the coronavirus pandemic reflects the increased COVID-19 vaccination rate among Floridians and improving public health circumstances, he said.
“Now the widespread ready availability of highly effective vaccines is dramatically changing the context in which we are operating,” Canady said in his videotaped remarks. He added that more modifications of COVID-19 rules will be announced in the near future as courtrooms get back to normal operations.
The chief justice and court officials have been monitoring health indications locally and statewide and have made changes to COVID-19 orders multiple times over the past year, Paul Flemming, public information officer for the Office of the State Courts Administrator, told the Florida Record.
“It’s been adapted and will continue to be as merited,” Fleming said. “... But the clear trend is improvement of the health conditions.”
Court efficiencies that have been achieved through the use of technology such as videoconferencing will likely continue as the pandemic comes under control, he said. The use of such online technology for short hearings means less travel time and stress for the participants, according to Flemming.
"It's been proven effective and popular, and the clear expectation is, and the clear direction offered by the chief justice is, that this will continue," he said.
Canady’s most recent announcement comes in the wake of Gov. Ron DeSantis signing legislation, Senate Bill 2006, which invalidates local government COVID-19 orders that restrict people’s “rights and liberties.”
“This legislation ensures that legal safeguards are in place so that local governments cannot arbitrarily close our schools and businesses,” DeSantis said in a prepared statement.
The state court system is also grappling with a large backlog of cases that resulted from health restrictions during the pandemic.