Vested Interest September 2021

Finally, some good news. We are now seeing the return of jury trials in the Daley Center. In northern Illinois every suburban county has seen at least one multi-defendant jury trial in the last 60 days. Central Illinois has been conducting jury trials with increasing frequency. Federal court is also planning for the return of civil jury trials next month. ITLA has been following the progress of civil juries statewide. The data we have compiled showing the safe return of trials will continue to be used as evidence to support their safe and rapid return where it meets resistance. Thank you to everyone who sent in information about their own recent jury trials and what and which COVID-19 precautions were instituted.

We have already seen the return to jury trials will not be seamless. There have been some impractical approaches by the judiciary that result in impossible scheduling difficulties. We are communicating with judicial leaders to ensure they are aware of these issues.

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