Judges, attorneys press for higher vaccination priority

Leaders throughout California's judicial branch say court workers should be given the same priority access to the coronavirus vaccine as firefighters, police officers, and teachers, in letters and tweets directed to health officials this week.

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Tuesday that beginning in February, California will implement a statewide standard under which health care workers, people 65 or older and education and child care, emergency services and food and agriculture workers will be eligible to start making appointments to receive the vaccine, pending availability.

Court workers such as judges, government and private attorneys, and court staff, were not on the priority list.

Responding in an announcement Tuesday, Los Angeles County Superior Court Presiding Judge Eric Taylor asked the LA County Health Department to reprioritize vaccine access for court employees and justice partners.

"The court has worked tirelessly to keep the doors of justice open in furtherance of our commitment and duty to uphold constitutional, statutory, and legislative mandates as the third branch of government in our democracy," Taylor said in the statement.

He added that while his court has done everything it could to reduce in-person foot traffic, by providing remote appearances and delaying proceedings, "Nonetheless, the hardworking essential workers ... must continue to carry out many of their duties in person."

Taylor made the request after the state and county announced last week that court worker vaccinations would be further delayed due to a change in the vaccination prioritization list, placing persons 65 and over above court workers, according to Tuesday's announcement.

The LA Superior Court system has come under fire after two court interpreters and a member of the court staff were reported to have died of COVID-19 this month. The criticism of the court, mostly lodged by a watchdog group called Court Watch Los Angeles, has intensified this month after Assembly Bill 685 was enacted, forcing the L.A. court to reveal to its employees just how many of them, and members of the public, are believed to be getting infected in courtrooms on a daily basis.

Taylor asked Dr. Barbara Ferrer, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, to help the court advocate for the reprioritization of vaccinations for 5,000 court employees and judicial officers, and 2,500 justice partner employees, who work daily in the county's 38 courthouses.

Likewise, Los Angeles County Public Defender Ricardo Garcia, as well as the public defenders' union, demanded Monday via Twitter that they be moved up in vaccination priority.

"Public defenders are in courts across California, every day, at great risk to themselves and their families, protecting your constitutional rights and defending the presumption of innocence," Garcia said. "Protect and defend their health and safety. Move public defenders to 1B vaccination priority."

Garcia's Tweet echoed a letter sent by the Santa Clara County public defender's office to its county board of supervisors on Thursday, also asking the defense attorneys be included in the vaccine priority list.

The requests for vaccine reprioritization follow a December letter sent to Newsom by California Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil- Sakauye, in which she asked the governor to include court staff in the group slated to receive the vaccine early.

"As California anticipates the availability of COVID-19 vaccines and begins to plan for their acquisition and distribution, I request on behalf of the California judicial branch that court employees and judicial officers be included as a priority in the plan, given the early limited supply of vaccines," Sakauye wrote. "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. We fully understand that there are others who should have first priority, but employees and members of the judiciary should not be far behind as they are designated as 'essential workers' by the administration, and current guidance issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention includes several classes of essential workers given their criticality to the functioning of society."

While Sakauye and court leaders on the county level have requested reprioritization, at least one federal judge said his court should not be included in the early vaccination crowd.

U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney of the Central District of California, said in an email Tuesday if his court were open to the public, he might want priority but, "Since the Central District is not allowing in-person hearings and not conducting jury trials, I personally do not feel comfortable jumping to the head of the line and getting the vaccine."

"All essential workers and others interacting with the public, including first responders, medical workers, teachers, grocery store workers, etc., should get the vaccine before I do. If we were open to the public ... I probably would accept the vaccine to protect the public and the court staff."

Carney's views differ from those of the new chief judge of the Southern District of California, U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw, who said in a Friday interview that judges and their staff should be given priority to receive the vaccine.

"We should be given priority because of the work we do, the obligations we have under the Constitution and federal statute to move cases along efficiently," Sabraw said. "The sooner we can all be safe, the more quickly we will be able to do jury trials in person. But all we can do is ask."

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

Future groups will become eligible based on age and this statewide standard will move in unison across all 58 counties, according to the governor.