On March 13, 2020 the Florida Supreme Court executed an order stating that beginning March 16, 2020 no jury trials were to be held as a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic that has plagued the United States. However, on May 21, 2020, a subsequent Administrative order issued by the Florida Supreme Court, determined it would begin a pilot program that would allow jury trials to be conducted virtually in order to protect the health and safety of the citizens and court staff. Even though many courts followed suit, this process was not perfect and many technological and logistical challenges are still present. One of the major challenges the courts still face is how judges will learn to navigate through the video conferencing services, and how they would adjust to the sudden technological shift that the judgeship seat has taken. A former Court of Appeals Justice, Elizabeth Lang Miers, stated, “Like the rest of us, all of the courts [including judges] had to learn to operate with Zoom.” The consensus amongst judges and other court staff has been  that no court was ready to shift from the courtroom to the virtual platform that COVID-19 brought upon the United States Justice System.

The sudden shift to an online format has led to courts in the District of Columbia to order “all in-person onsite oral arguments be suspended” and be postponed, proceed by teleconference, or decided without oral arguments.” These orders, such as the one given in some of the D.C. Courts, are what have caused some uncertainty in the justice system moving forward. Judges that are not well versed and technologically adept in the use of video conferencing technologies have had to substantially delay and move cases to other judges and courthouses, which has caused major delays in delivering justice to their local communities. Challenges such as monitoring who can come in and out of a Zoom meeting for a hearing is another difficult task. In fact, the Florida Bar News stated that someone with the court room Zoom ID number entered the conference playing loud metal music while also displaying pornographic images. Situations like these are only one in a sea of issues that have plagued the justice system. One can argue there has been another shift during the pandemic inside of the court room.

Judges all over the country have been advocating for the courts to remain partially virtual after a vaccination for COVID-19 finally gets released. As a report for the National Center for State Court reports, “ideas that were once radical and unimaginable,” are now being considered as the new norm for parts of the judicial system process. Having motion calendars and hearings on administrative issues, judges say, would protect the health of court staff and it citizens public. This process would also allow for the court to exercise efficiency in cases that are brought before them and allow their attention to be hyper focused on more severe legal matters presented to them in the court room. Whether the COVID-19 pandemic is gone now or in a couple of months, video conferencing is not going anywhere, the courts will have to modernize their modes of operation, and ultimately adjust to the times that technology has placed in society.