IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA MIDDLE DISTRICT

IN RE: 51ST JUDICIAL DISTRICT : No. 51 MM 2020 JUDICIAL EMERGENCY ORDER (ADAMS : COUNTY) :

ORDER

PER CURIAM AND NOW, this 26th day of August, 2021, the Request for Emergency Judicial Order is DENIED, WITHOUT PREJUDICE.

The instant Request seeks permission for the President Judge of the Fifty-First Judicial District to declare an open-ended judicial emergency in that judicial district, with the President Judge relatedly being authorized to take any actions permitted by Rule of Judicial Administration 1952(B)(2). Additionally, the Request asks that the President Judge of the Fifty-First Judicial District be permitted to suspend Rule of Criminal Procedure 119, which limits the use of advanced communication technology (ACT), until September 30, 2021.

Notably, however, the instant Request does not sufficiently detail how the Fifty- First Judicial District is presently experiencing a county-specific judicial emergency justifying the requested relief under Rule of Judicial Administration 1952(B)(2). For instance, the Request provides no particularized data as to how the pandemic is presently, and adversely, affecting the Fifty-First Judicial District’s ability to function normally under the general limitations on the use of ACT.

Respectfully, absent such detailed information, the Petition fails to establish that the Court of Common Pleas of Adams County is presently experiencing a judicial emergency that would necessitate conferring the requested authority on the President Judge pursuant to Rule of Judicial Administration 1952(B)(2).

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