Priority COVID-19 Vaccination for Judges, Lawyers, and Support Staff Who Must Appear in Person in Court, Meet With Clients in Jails and Prisons and Other Detention Facilities

Via Facsimile

The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo
Governor of New York State
NYS State Capitol Building
Albany, NY 12224

Re:       Priority COVID-19 Vaccination for Judges, Lawyers, and Support Staff Who Must Appear in Person in Court, Meet With Clients in Jails and Prisons and Other Detention Facilities

Dear Governor Cuomo:

We write on behalf of the New York City Bar Association (City Bar) to express our concern about the functioning of the criminal justice, immigration and family court systems during the ongoing COVID-19 health crisis—particularly with respect to the members of the bench and bar and others who participate in those systems. Specifically, we urge that judges, lawyers, and support or non-lawyer staff for any of the above services, agencies, or facilities who must appear in person in court or related proceedings and/or meet with clients in jails and prisons and other detention facilities be given priority in COVID-19 vaccination allocation and distribution. This approach will protect their health and safety, as well as that of their families, other in-person participants in the courts, incarcerated and/or detained people held in congregate settings, and the wider community, and will help facilitate a quicker return to normal court operations.[1]

The City Bar is a private, non-profit organization of more than 25,000 members who are professionally involved in a broad range of law-related activities. Founded in 1870, the City Bar is one of the oldest bar associations in the United States. Its mission is to equip and mobilize a diverse legal profession to practice with excellence, promote reform of the law, and uphold the rule of law and access to justice in support of a fair society and the public interest in our community, our nation, and throughout the world.

As COVID-19 continues to spread throughout New York State and at a particularly alarming rate in the state’s jails and prisons,  New York State and Federal judges, prosecutors, criminal defense lawyers, family court lawyers who represent juvenile defendants, immigration lawyers who represent detained immigrants, presentment agency personnel charged with handling juvenile delinquency cases, law school faculty and students working in criminal, juvenile justice and immigration law school clinics, and support or non-lawyer staff for any of the above services, agencies, or facilities, all place their health and well-being, as well as the health and well-being of their families, at risk each time they appear in-person in court or visit a client in a prison or detention facility. While we applaud the inclusion of law enforcement officers, court officers, corrections officers, probation officers, and other civilian court personnel in Phase 1b of New York State’s vaccine distribution plan,[2] we believe all essential participants in the criminal justice, immigration and family court systems must be given priority for COVID-19 vaccinations in the current or next phase (Phase 1c) in order to ensure the safe and efficient functioning of those systems.[3] Many of these lawyers work for legal service providers or are on County Law 18B or Criminal Justice Act (CJA) panels and will be able to show proof of identification in order to receive the vaccine as a priority participant.

Although the Courts are currently conducting proceedings virtually in many instances, certain proceedings continue to be conducted in person.[4] Judges, prosecutors, criminal defense lawyers, and clinical personnel, including those that appear in family court, still must appear regularly in-person, in government buildings, to fulfill important constitutional and governmental functions. Moreover, immigration lawyers who represent detained clients, including some of the most vulnerable populations, are forced to choose between appearing telephonically or risking their health to personally appear beside their clients in order to be more effective in proceedings that sometimes carry life and death consequences for their clients. Criminal defense lawyers, immigration lawyers, and law school clinic participants represent clients who are incarcerated in jails currently besieged by COVID-19[5] and often must meet with their clients in person, which means entering and exiting congregate detention facilities, prosecutors’ and probation offices and the courts, and risking their (and their families) lives and safety.

By including correctional officers, court officers, and other civilian court personnel in its list of COVID-19 vaccine eligible individuals, the State has recognized the importance of these participants to the efficient functioning of our courthouses and correctional institutions, as well as these individuals’ heightened workplace exposure to COVID-19. Nonetheless, the State has not included other key institutional participants—namely, judges, prosecutors (including those charged with handling juvenile delinquency cases), criminal defense, immigration and family court lawyers, law school clinic participants, and support or non-lawyer staff for any of the above services, agencies, or facilities who must appear in courthouses, have in-person interactions with victims, witnesses and others, and/or meet with clients in correctional institutions.[6] This decision runs contrary to the recommendation of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency of the United States Government, which lists “workers supporting the operations of the judicial system, including judges, lawyers, and others providing legal assistance,” as essential workers deserving of COVID-19 vaccine priority.[7] Notably, other states, including Kentucky, Louisiana, Nevada, and Pennsylvania, have prioritized judges and lawyers for COVID-19 vaccine eligibility.[8]

We agree that it is in the State of New York’s best interest  to return the courts—especially those necessary for the full functioning of our criminal, juvenile, and immigration justice systems—back to their full operations as soon as possible.  However, we believe this can only be achieved by speedily vaccinating all whose presence in those courts is required for the prompt and equitable administration of justice.[9] In conjunction with the City Bar’s prior calls for just and equitable vaccine distribution,[10] we urge state officials to prioritize immediately all lawyers, judges, and court participants who must appear in court in-person and/or in congregate prison or detention facilities in the current or immediate next phase of allocation and distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Respectfully,

Criminal Courts Committee
Terri S. Rosenblatt, Chair

Immigration & Nationality Law Committee
Danny Alicea, Chair

Juvenile Justice Committee
Jennifer Gilroy Ruiz, Co-Chair
Maura Keating, Co-Chair

Small Law Firm Committee
Anne Wolfson, Chair

Council on the Profession*
Melissa Colon-Bosolet, Co-Chair
Dean Matthew Diller, Co-Chair

* Abbe R. Gluck was recused from the vote.